Hidden Love
by Lupe55
Summary: (Gaara x OC) After a devastating loss against Konoha after the chunin exams, the Suna realized that there were many errors in their ways. When a crippled Hidden Village loses faith in itself and is forced back to retreat, two unlikely people meet. A unique friendship blossoms between the two in a time where both so desperately need someone to hold on to.
1. The Beginning

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 1: ****The Beginning **

* * *

**A/N:**

**1.) Just as an FYI I don't edit my stories. For those who have read most of my things, you know this. But just a fair warning for those that are new. I am not paid to do this and I write to improve and release some creative juices. I feel like if I can write a good, imaginative story, that would hold more attention, and more forgiveness than one that didn't. Plus, I have a full time job and I am a graduate student… Lets go with that excuse more than the fact that I am just too lazy to edit…**

**2.) I have never written a character like Gaara before, so I will try my best to keep him in character, but things from his personality will change over time, this is a romance OC paring story afterall. Oh, and since it is Gaara, you all know this is going to be one hell of a slow burn…**

**3.) Also, because I feel more comfortable about it, every character will be aged up in this story. I don't like writing romance stories between teenagers. I have no fault with it, but personally, I just don't want to. So for the record, the OC will be 18, and Gaara will be 19. All other ages will be based off of these two. Again, I may put in a bit of detail in romance scenes and I just don't feel comfortable as a writer doing that with underaged kids… Just saying. **

**4.) If you haven't already, check out my Kakashi x OC stories the first part titled "Don't Walk Away" and the sequel called "Drowning in Freedom." Those of you who have come over from those stories, thank you and I hope you like this next installment of mine for the Naruto fandom. **

**5.) Also, like with DWA and DIF, I will be using the first name of my characters… it's just easier…**

**6.) If I have time, like with DIF, expect weekly/bi-weekly updates… and I will try my hardest to adhere to this.**

* * *

"You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not."

-Jodi Picoult from _My Sister's Keeper_

* * *

Three weeks ago, the Suna found out shocking news about their fearless leader. He was found dead with the with the rest of his party when he was traveling to the chunin exams. All the promises that Orochimaru made them, all of them were lies. Every promise that was made, every back room deal that someone promised, all of it was just one big, simple, lie. The Suna's plans backfired on them and now they had to pay the price for losing the ambush that they had launched on Konoha. Unfortunately for the Suna, not only did they lose the battle and were forced to retreat, but they were now depleted on resources and both their offensive and defensive power took a hit. Many lives lost during the battle.

Everyone was on edge, but like with most things, instead of looking at the truth, most would like to blame others than take an internal look at themselves. The residents of the Suna decided that it was just easier to hate the person who they were taught to stay away from the moment they were born. Their trump card, their main weapon, had failed against a vibrant, bright blond who had nothing to his name besides a loud and obnoxious voice. The three sand siblings were the nation's ace in the hole and when they failed, everything else seemed to go up in flames. To put so much pressure on young adults to succeed, it was almost palpable how stressed the three seemed to be, so it was a surprise that they all came back in one piece.

The Suna was still leaderless, and everyone seemed to be nursing their wounds still. Families were torn apart and many were mourning losses. The village elders and the adjacent council thought that without having a leader, their village would appear as weak. They were afraid that someone, whether it be a neighboring small town or one of the other hidden villages, would launch an attack on them, trying to gain more land in the never-ending war all shinobi seemed to have against each other. It didn't help any matters when a small piece of land, that was gifted to the Suna by Konoha, was taken back by the land of fire. It was on the outskirts of the fire nation's territory and with them being in the middle of a lush forest, it was never hard to come by water and food, unlike their desert counterpart.

With recent events, however, Konoha had decided to take back the land—by force. The Suna figured that this may happen and started to ration everyone's food prior to the forceful removal of their right to farm the land. Tensions from the loss and now the rations of food were making everyone in the village uncomfortable, except for those in a high position of power. When the Suna heard of the attack that was about to happen on the small farm land, they didn't bother to send in reinforcements—there was no one who was willing to go out there and help fight after such a devastating loss. The Suna knew that they could make deals with the other neighboring towns for supplies, but now, they were starting to see the error in their ways with the discontent citizens griping as they go about their daily tasks.

However, those who were stationed there, they were outnumbered and defeated. Those that were villagers were pardoned and they became a neutral party when Konoha took over. However, the four shinobi that were there, they were outnumbered and defeated. Cutting a deal with the Konoha nin's, the Suna shinobi were able to come back to the main village, pending that they left all their items and left immediately. If not, after the events of their own beloved Hokage, the Suna shinobi knew that Konoha wouldn't hesitate to kill every one of them. Granted, with a loss so fresh on everyone's mind it was hard not to mock those who were arriving from the farm lands. Most thought that a job out there would be easy, all they had to do was defend it, and yet, the shinobi stationed out there couldn't even do that correctly. So, not only was there discontent among the citizens there was discontent within the ranks of Suna's shinobi.

They needed a small victory and when they heard about what had happened, it seemed as if the group of shinobi that the Suna had didn't want to function as a cohesive unit. Instead, they took a page out of the villager's book and started to blame their own for something that they couldn't have prevented.

"_I heard that there are only three shinobi left, that survived the slaughter over that farmland, instead of the four that were supposed to arrive."_

"_Not only that, but when they arrived here at the village, all three of them were instantly promoted to the level of chunin!"_

"_That must mean that they are going to put those idiots in here with us."_

"_I hope not. They lost a fight out there that they should have easily won. If only they were brave enough to stand their ground and fight back instead of surrendering."_

"_I would have given my life for my village, and I almost did."_

"_Waving the white flag was the worst possible thing that they could have done. They are such a disappointment to this village."_

The classroom filled with gossip about the new chunins that were to arrive at any moment. The room now was filled with people who went to the chunin exams and escaped the fight alive. All of them were freshly appointed, as the elders made tough calls on who to promote and who not to. With all the deaths and the tolls that the Suna sustained, it was hard to justify not promoting most of the genin to a new, higher role, even if some of them didn't deserve it yet. Unsurprisingly, and without a doubt, the sand siblings were in that classroom of new chunins. Temari and Kankuro were busy speaking to their other classmates, careful to not bring up the death of their father. It was still hard losing a parent that they were close to.

On the other hand, the weapon of the Suna, Gaara, the other, and youngest sand sibling, stayed in the back corner, peering out the window. No one dared to approach him. They didn't mind whispering gossip in front of him, but they knew that if they ever gave him the wrong idea or a simple stare that lasted too long, their lives would be over in a heartbeat. However, only Temari and Kankuro knew what had happened between Gaara and Naruto when the red-head lost the fight. There had been a significant change in his attitude and demeanor, and now, the bloodthirsty air seemed to have vanished after Gaara's fight with Naruto. His two older siblings now watched in careful silence to make sure Gaara wasn't completely off his rocker or hurt in any way that may have instated this new personality change.

Nevertheless, what happened that day in Konoha against Naruto, it made Gaara find a sense of calm within himself. He knew that his siblings didn't trust him right now and he knew that if he was in their shoes, he would act the same around him. The three had never been close, even though Temari tried the most when they were kids. Then and now, Gaara figured that they were absolutely terrified of him and the powers that he held. If he wanted to, like his classmates knew, he wouldn't hesitate to bury someone in sand.

"Everyone Quiet!" Baki yelled at the small class filled with curious students.

If there was anyone who wanted to be here less then the students, it was Baki. The elders thought it would be a good idea to keep the genin teams together even though most were just promoted to chunin. He knew that the elders meant well, but for Baki, it meant for work trying to teach students that were annoying and didn't bother to listen to him. He was a jonin who already was tasked with being the group leader to the sand siblings and he honestly wasn't ready for more baby-sitting duties. If he had it his way, he would send all these twerps on missions and let them get some hands-on experience to prepare them for the real world. The next time they go to war, they wouldn't be as lucky as this last time with Konoha.

"We have some new faces joining us today…" Baki announced, hoping to get over with this as soon as he possibly could.

The quiet room that Baki had just shushed had filled with mutters and questions that lined each wall of the classroom. The students wanted to get a good look at the shinobi that were forced to surrender the working farmland that the Suna held and come back here with their tail between their legs.

"_I bet that they are just a bunch of farm hands."_

"_They are probably not strong at all."_

"_They have no special abilities, why are they even going to be placed in the same class as us?"_

More comments were thrown out as the three incoming shinobi filed into the room.

"Introduce yourselves," Baki stated in a straight forward attitude.

The first to step forward was a boy who had dark black hair and green eyes. However, his hair was cropped close to his head and he seemed to have trickster sort of attitude that surrounded him.

"Takahashi, Sota at your service!" the young shinobi gave a mock salute to the room, and clearly, he was the jokester of the trio.

He received a few laughs at his antics and the Sota was too new to realize that they weren't laughing at his comedic tendencies and instead they were laughing at him. However, the next shinobi stepped forward to introduce himself, and a timid voice came out, much unlike the first new student.

"I'm Takahashi, Yuto—"

"Don't let him push you off the fact that we are twins. Oh, and he is the younger one, not me, so before anyone begins to start assuming anything, he definitely is the baby of the group!" Sota called out, interrupting his twin.

Yuto blushed hard and he mockingly hit his brother on the arm where Sota feigned actual pain as if his brother had hurt him. The two did look strikingly like each other, however, where Sota's hair was short, Yuto's hair was long and tied up in a pony tail that rested on the nape of his neck. At Sota's irrational outburst, Yuto also pushed up his glasses, where his brother Sota didn't have any, trying to hide his embarrassment. Just by looking at this set of twins one could determine that the two were completely opposite, however, it seemed as if, at the same time, it was what held their relationship together. Yuto looked as if he was the brains of the two of them, but it was Sota who pushed them and was the glue that held them together with his optimistic and positive attitude. There was a slight pause and the class could hear Baki sigh with a mixture of annoyance and impatience.

"And you?"

Someone cleared their throat in the classroom, the silence thickening. For whatever reason, this newcomer, much unlike their counterparts, didn't speak up right away. Gaara inhaled and decided to let his eyes drift over the new chunin that were joining them. Then he realized who was holding up the introductions. A short kunoichi stood there who had long, honey-chestnut colored hair that went down to her waist. It seemed as if the very ends curled in on themselves, but the rest of her hair was pin straight. Her eyes blinked frequently, and Gaara couldn't tell if she was trying to hold back tears or if the desert sun that was filtering in from the windows was agitating her. However, he couldn't get the color of her brown eyes out of his head.

Typically, brown eyes weren't that appealing, but hers looked as if they were the color of the setting sun shining through a glass of whiskey. The complimented her and her presumably natural hair color. Her Suna headband reflected off the sun that was filtering in and it seemed to be acting as a hair band, keeping most of her long hair out of her face. A part of her hair was draped in front of her shoulder where it covered a standard kunoichi uniform. However, instead of the normal neutral colors of the village, her cropped shirt was a deep plum color, matching with her skirt. However, her undershirt that was exposed around her midsection was a light lavender color. Her shoes and her utility bag on her leg were both black, completing her styled look.

Some would probably call her pretty, at least that is what Gaara assumed, but what intrigued his interest the most about the kunoichi was that she had her left arm taped up. All the way from each individual finger to her bare shoulder, she was covered with white tape and white bandages. He wondered if the rumors that the class was talking about was true. Maybe she was trying to hide an injury that she sustained from fighting the Konoha nins. On closer inspection of the bandages, however, they almost seemed as if they were a bit frayed around the edges, almost as if they needed to be replaced soon. Gaara couldn't think about this any longer when the kunoichi in front of the class took a deep breath and a look of determination crossed her face.

"Matsuda, Kimiko" the kunoichi announced in an unwavering voice, even though she clenched her fists together until they turned white.

It was apparent that she didn't like speaking in front of crowds, but it also seemed like she could force her way through something unpleasant that she didn't enjoy. After she introduced herself there were a few more murmurs and hushed whispers that followed her introduction. Some people were in awe of her family name and others looked as if they wanted to spit at the kunoichi. It seemed, however, that the two chunin that stood next to her, gave her nothing but respect. Gaara knew then that it wasn't one of the twins who called the shots in their group, it was this kunoichi. She didn't look like she was all that powerful, but Gaara knew better than to assume now. Both with his fight against Naruto and the flamboyant Rock Lee, he knew that people weren't necessarily as they seemed.

Baki dismissed the three and told them to find a seat. At this, Gaara returned his gaze to the window, knowing full well that no one would dare come close to him. He heard the Sota boy sit by Temari and Kankuro, as he cracked a few jokes, making Kankuro laugh his head off, which made Baki throw a piece of chalk at his older brother. Nothing was heard from the other twin, and presumably, he sat close to the front of the classroom, trying to take in as many notes as he possibly could. However, as silent as a cat stalking its pray, Gaara never heard where the kunoichi sat down. With an unusual sense of curiosity taking over, he turned his head in his propped-up arm to scan the room for her.

She didn't sit down right next to him, but she may as well have by the looks she was getting from the classroom. She was in the row in front of him, about three seats to his right looking over at her. It was curious trait to move as silently as she did, and it left many things up to one's imagination. As Baki started with the lessons, Gaara found himself interested in the kunoichi that sat in front of him. Her eyes started to glaze over from the lessons and finally she put her head down in her hands, falling asleep. Maybe it was because she was quiet and wasn't trying to distract anyone like Kankuro, but for whatever reason, Baki never bothered trying to wake her up. But, even though Baki didn't seem to notice her, the other classmates did.

"_She has to be the one my dad was talking about!"_

"_She is the reason why we lost all the farm land, didn't you hear?"_

"_Is she the traitor that the jonin's were talking about?"_

"_We tried to fight and all she did was put her hands up in surrender. We need to teach her a lesson about fighting for this village!"_

"_Look at her and those bandages, I bet she got her ass handed to her by the Konoha nins!"_

Maybe it was because Gaara didn't have any true friends besides those that resided in Konoha and his family, if he could even call his family his friends, but he didn't have a clue about what his classmates were talking about. He assumed that there was some truth in their words, but knowing how his classmates liked to talk, he wasn't as sure as he would have been. He made it a point to ask Temari or Kankuro about it, and returned his gaze to the window, ignoring not only the lessons but the newcomers as well.


	2. The Warmth of the Sun

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 2: ****The Warmth of the Sun**

* * *

**Flamecaster15: Hahaha Yes! I think it was a pretty good start as well. **

**PrismRootStarlight: thank you! I figured that there wasn't anything really told from this point in the Naruto story or this side of it, so it will be something new and fun to explore. **

**moonlight46: Yes, Sota is VERY much like Naruto, just i think a little bit more intelligent and less head strong, if you know what I mean? Nothing against Naruto or anything to that nature, however, i think you will just have to keep reading :) **

* * *

**A/N: Ahhhhhhhh *Internal author screaming* Well, first off, I just want to say that I hope that you are all staying safe in these confusing and weird times. Unfortunately, I am marked as a critical employee due to my work in the defense industry, however I am staying safe and only essential; personnel are around, so there is only a few of us in the office space. However, I know that if I couldn't go into work, then I would probably go stir crazy. I am just happy that I am one of the lucky few that I have a great apartment and food in the refrigerator to come home to. I hope that you are all staying safe. **

**Secondly, my schoolwork is going, keeping me very busy and I have had little to no free time—as you all can probably tell. So, thirdly, I am sorry that I left this story for so long. I think I honestly just needed a break from a lot of things in my life and I haven't yet decided to return to my other fic, Serenity, but I think it is a good start that I am back and writing again. Hopefully I can update this in a timely fashion, but I will not make you guys any promises. Anyway, as of now, Author-san is back *insane author laughter*. **

* * *

Kimiko walked around the village of the hidden sand, which was completely different from what she was used to. Everything that she had grown up with was replaced by a sandy exterior and a bazaar landscape. Her schedule was completely different than what she was used to. If she was still back with her grandfather, she would have been in the fields helping him harvest crops or till the land to make it fertile for the next season. She enjoyed the backbreaking work of being on the farm. Even though she was there to protect the territory that the sand held there, it didn't excuse her from helping where she was needed. She remembered how the sun beat down on her while working the land and now, she realized, it was nothing compared to how the sun felt here in the middle of the desert. It astounded her how the villagers didn't seem to be fazed by this type of heat.

Looking up towards the cloudless sky, Kimiko tried to block out some of the sun's rays with her hand. It didn't seem to help as she squinted her eyes against the harsh light. This climate felt almost as if it was draining the life out of everything that tried to live here. She joked with herself saying that even the villagers appeared to be lifeless and distant. She was used to the happy community she was in and over night that instantly changed. She went from a small community to a huge hidden village practically over night and she noticed that what she thought was normal, may not be so normal. The kunoichi had the feeling that she needed to keep her guard up wherever she went here. If she ever faltered, she had a feeling that someone wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation. Kimiko was happy that she at least had Suta and Yuto with her to ease her sense of dread.

The two came from a big family, them being two of nine children, and the twins had to leave just like Kimiko with her grandfather. However, the twins had lived there since birth and when they became the first nins in their family, they were forced to leave everything they knew behind. Kimiko was in a different situation than them. When she was a newborn, she lived here in the Suna, but shortly after her third birthday, her grandfather took her in. The only good thing for their families was that both Konoha and the Suna held up the ideal that those who lived there were on neutral ground, that they didn't belong to one nation or the other allowing them to continue with their livelihoods. However, with the trio being nin belonging to the Suna, it was a different story for them.

Shaking her head, Kimiko tried to get the past out of her head. She knew that she had to take this as a chance to improve herself as a shinobi. She was sad that she had to leave the man that raised her, but at the same time, the two of them grew apart the moment that she decided to become a kunoichi. Her grandfather thought it was a cry for help, that she shouldn't become one even though it ran through her blood. Her grandfather was a retired nin and both her parents were, but her grandfather thought that the Matsuda name was tarnished. That her father's name in the shinobi world was toxic, unworthy, and dirty. Her grandfather wanted to change Kimiko's name to his surname but while her mother was alive, she wouldn't allow the change. Now, with her being a shinobi herself, she figured that she could prove it to not only her grandfather but everyone else that spat in her face just because of her last name.

She looked around and realized that she was walking around the outskirts of the town. How the Suna was set up was that it was layered in a way where the Hokage and his family were in the middle of the village and the rest of the wealthy or high and noble families circled and surrounded them. Then, spiraling outwards in rings, the closer to the walls of Suna one was, the poorer and more criminalized the area became. Bars were on the windows and there were plenty of trash that littered the streets were clear indicators of this. Plus, the looks she received from people loitering in corners made this even more apparent. She knew that they were trying to size her up, trying to find any indication that she was with the police. She took a deep breath and kept her head down, trying not to draw any unwanted attention to herself and continued walking. There was no way that she could go home right now, or what she was supposed to call home.

Kimiko stretched and thought about the twins. They seemed to be getting on well, even with everything that happened, and she would be lying if she didn't feel flashes of envy because of it. They seemed to be adjusting to this life in a few days better than she ever could and she was also jealous that from the first day they came to village, their family was making sure that they had everything that they needed. She wished that she had a sibling or someone she called a close friend, but she was an only child and her closest friend in the world left. She was the type that it took a while for her to talk, to warm up to someone, but once she did, she never could find the time to be quiet. She enjoyed her solitude, but sometimes even she could get lonely.

However, she didn't mind being guarded when meeting someone, it hadn't failed her yet. She chose to watch other's and their dynamic before she started to intertwine herself into places. It made her transition to the village easier in a way, because like now, when she saw people frown at her, even scowl, it didn't faze her as much. With the sideways glances she was sure that it was more than just the hesitant thinking that she was a part of the police force. She was sure that the rumors that had started about what happened the night that Konoha invaded the farmland were starting to spread. She knew she just heard the tip of the ice burg at the classroom filled with chunin, however, no one knew what really went down that night besides her and the twins and Kimiko was sure that the twins would never speak of that night again—out of respect for her.

That did, however, put her in a predicament since false accusations and false accounts were thrown out and reported, making her probably one of the least like persons in the village. Maybe her grandfather was right, maybe there was no way to redeem her father's name, even if her father still wanted to drag it through the mud. Clenching her fists, she knew that the nastiness was just beginning, that the worst had yet to come. She could deal with a few rumors and some ill-minded shinobi. Picking her head up, Kimiko decided that she would just work as hard as she could with her tenure in the Suna. If it was at all something, at least no one could say that she wasn't trying.

Trying to occupy her time by exploring the village, Kimiko's feet had brought her to a dead end. There were only two options, go down the side street that was tucked away in the corner, or, come back the way she came. With nothing else to do until the early morning hours, she figured that maybe it would be an adventure worth taking. Turning down the beaten path that seemed to be relatively clean compared to the main street, she took a few steps and was about to turn around thinking that this was just a private residential street when she saw a convenience store sign and some good smelling processed food being microwaved. Curiosity got the better of the young kunoichi and so she didn't hesitate to go inside. With the store being off the beaten path, one would have expected the store to have minimal activity, but as far as Kimiko could see, it was a popular business site.

Some of the personnel in the store wouldn't necessarily be the best the village had to offer, but it seemed as if they were there to get their things and leave, that they weren't there to harass anyone or rob the establishment. The kunoichi realized that in the middle of this poor neighborhood this was the neutral territory that everyone subconsciously agreed to. Kimiko perused the aisles and noted what was available down each one, noting where the instant food was. She had a feeling that this would be most of her nightly meals, if not all of them. She knew that instant meals were high in sodium and weren't that healthy, but it was always a good meal when there was nothing else available and boy did, she love food. Maybe it was because she grew up around her grandfather who loved to cook, or growing up around a farm, but her favorite hobby was scarfing down food.

Kimiko then went over to the reading and literature section which mostly consisted on magazines and books that featured adult content. She knew that was an area of purchase that probably kept the small shop running. Most stores weren't allowed to sell that sort of material or if they could, display it so openly. It made Kimiko think that it was more of a back room purchase that no one seemed to want to talk about. This store had a hodge podge of things, and Kimiko knew why: out of sight, out of mind. That is also why Kimiko's attention was brought to the cat that was bathing in the sun. He seemed fluffy and soft, relaxing in the sun's rays. She shuffled closer to the cat, trying to seem interested in the some of the actual books that the cat was around. When she approached, the cat opened its eyes, keeping its steady blue gaze on her.

The kunoichi could tell that the cat had been through more than a few things in its long years of life. The cat's coat was shiny and fluffy, noting that it was well taken care of, but it still showed its age. The cat's hair was gray, and its whiskers were bent at weird angles, almost as if young children had tried to pull them out. She had a feeling that the cat was a grumpy old thing, but if it ever warmed up to someone, it would be the most affectionate creature. Kimiko knew better than to directly reach her hand out to pet the cat, and instead, keeping her eyes trained on the book in her hand, she offered her already bandaged hand to the cat, allowing it to be acquainted with her scent. She could feel the cat's little breath on her fingers as it tried to make sense on if she could be trusted. Carefully, Kimiko lifted her eyes to the cat. In the same instance, the cat's eyes widened and the cat bit down on Kimiko's finger, hard.

However, instead of a normal reaction of trying to yank her finger out from the cat's mouth, Kimiko just winced and remained calm, blood now staining her off-white wrappings. It was her fault, she either moved too fast, or with her making eye contact with the cat, it may have felt threatened, like she was an issuing a challenge. When Kimiko stayed still, the cat realized that she wasn't going to retreat or advance towards it with anger, the cat simply let her go. It was almost as if the cat spat out her finger thinking it tasted bad. The cat continued to eye the young kunoichi curiously, not knowing what to expect from the abnormal human behavior the feline was witnessing.

"Don't worry about him, he will eventually warm up to you," Kimiko turned to look around, searching for the voice that was addressing her.

Directly behind her stood a short, elderly man who offered up a polite smile. She didn't say anything to the man, and instead she shuffled to the side when he came to stand next to her. She didn't mind the random company, but at the same time, she was trained to never let down her guard, to try to find things that were out of the ordinary.

"I don't think that I have had anyone in my store react that way to him biting someone before. Usually he bites someone, and both the victim and the cat run off," the elderly man chuckled.

Kimiko connected the dots, now knowing that this was the owner of the little convenience store. Finding no ill will or intent from the older man next to her, Kimiko decided that it wouldn't hurt to be cordial to the man.

"I like cats. When I lived on a farm, we had a bunch of them around to keep unwanted pests away."

"Is that right?"

"Yes Sir. They are helpful when it comes to things like that. They are a good partner to have, even the ones that are grumpy," Kimiko softly smiled at the man.

The man laughed and then pointed at the book that Kimiko had in her hands, "that is a good one."

"I've never heard of it."

"I think you will find it interesting."

Kimiko placed the book back down onto the other copies, "I guess that it will just give me an excuse to come back now, won't it?"

The man gave Kimiko a delighted look knowing that the kunoichi would be back again. The store owner knew that many young adults around this girl's age typically hung around other parts of the village, ignoring corner stores like these. It was unusual that she was here, let alone a shinobi, but it was a welcomed sight. However, Kimiko realized that maybe the store wasn't so hard to find after all, because before the store owner could say anything in response, the other two in Kimiko's team rushed into the store with red faces. Their chests heaved almost as if they just finished running a marathon. She wished that this was her place, but, as she knew better, the twins would always be able to find her.

"Yuto, Sota, what's wrong?" Kimiko asked, slightly worried given their appearance.

In a rush of words, Sota excitedly explained, "We were coming to find you to go explore the village, but here you are, thinking about reading."

Yuto rocked back and forth on his feet as if he was nervous and Kimiko looked back to the shop owner. He simply held a pleasant smile gesturing her towards her friends. She nodded her head towards the man, the two having a mutual agreement and understanding that she would be back. The three exited the store and per usual, Sota started talking his head off, trying to explain how his day went and exclaiming about how big the village was, that there was always something going on and something to do. Unlike Kimiko and Yuto, Sota never liked living in the outskirts of the world and tending to crops. He was destined for life in a bigger, more populated, area, so Kimiko knew that he would have no issues or complaints living in the Suna.

As Sota continued his tirade, Kimiko looked at the other twin. Yuto was more reserved and distant. Again, like Kimiko, he liked to keep his distance from others, but, unlike Kimiko, he never spoke up much more than he did now once he decided to let them into his life. He had always been the quiet, book smart one of the trio. He had great attention to detail, and it showed in his work. It was what made him a great med nin. However, Kimiko had known both twins for as long as she could remember, and for her, it was easy to tell when one of them wasn't feeling well, or if something was wrong. When Yuto fixed his glasses as they fell down the bridge of his nose, dragging his feet as they walked around the village, that was when the kunoichi asked the younger twin if everything was okay.

"Are you okay, Yuto?"

"I…I don't know if this was such a good idea for us to come here… I mean… to the village… we should have just stayed closer to home…"

"Oh, come on Yuto," Sota said with his voiced raised to an obnoxious volume, "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We finally have the change to get out of that small town and here you are, trying to take this chance away from us."

Yuto clenched his fists and dropped his voice so only Kimiko could hear as they continued to walk, clearly fed up with his twin.

"I just, I feel that with everything that happened, how we left, how they treated you at the end of it all... Kimi… I just… I have a bad feeling about this place…"

Kimiko took a deep breath and looked up at the sun again, the rays making her eyes water and blinded by the intense light as she tried to find the right words to say.

"It will take some getting used to… that is for sure. We will be homesick, but we have been away from homes on missions before. We have been relocated before. We will work it out."

"But how do you know?" Yuto tentatively asked.

With a small smile and without falter, Kimiko used her shoulder to bump into Yuto's, "because we still have the best genin group, now _chunin _group in the whole region."

Yuto chuckled at Kimiko's corny sentence, however, it was what he needed to hear. As the two returned to Sota's non-stop conversation, he directed a question at Kimiko.

"Well, I suppose this is technically home for you, isn't it, Kimi?"

"Sota! You know how she feels about this place."

Sota huffed, putting his hands up in the air in a mock of displeasure, but he put his hands on the back of his head, trying to fake his displeasure.

"Yuto, thank you, but I will be fine. It will just take some time being back here. As I am sure my grandfather has already warned you, I don't have many fond memories of this place."

"You better take care of yourself and get on a normal sleeping schedule, you hear me?"

"I will, Yuto."

"I mean it. You can't just sleep the day away in class—"

"Yuto lay off of her, you aren't her mom. Unless, wait… now I have to check…"

Sota turned around and tried to pull down Yuto's pants, trying to show the world what was really between his brother's legs. The two brothers fought, Sota calling Yuto a girl and Yuto yelling at Sota that he was being a child. Kimiko rolled her eyes and kept walking, waiting for the other two to realize that she was leaving them behind. She eventually heard footsteps behind her, indicating that the two were finished, for the time being, with their brotherly spat.

"I'm telling you Yuto, sleeping in exactly what class is for."

"No it isn't. I mean you just talk the whole time. Thank god that this group has me, if not none of us would know the details of the tests that are coming up to train our skills."

"We are already chunin, there isn't a single test that the three of us working on together couldn't ace," Sota shouted, rubbing his nose.

"Sota, we need to make sure that we hone our skills. We just can't rely on Kimi for everything."

"We do not rely on her for everything," Sota started to pout.

"Oh, come on. She makes sure that we are always okay, and she always has her back. She is the glue that keeps us together and you know it."

"I would like to think that the thing that keeps us together is our brotherly love... but… I see how it is," Sota placed a hand over his heart in mock sadness, teasing Yuto to no end.

Yuto ignored the jab and continued with a statement that he knew would make his brother's blood boil.

"Plus, she had the hardest job when we left… she was tasked… she had to do the thing that no one else could…"

Sota stilled.

"You don't have to bring that up, Yuto. I know she had the hardest job and that… that…" Sota's voice tapered off as if he couldn't find the words.

"Guys!" Kimiko shouted at them, bringing them both back to reality and gaining their attention. "That is all in the past, okay? Let's try to look forward, to move forward. Yuto, I know you are nervous, but Sota has a point. This is our life now, and you are going to have to get used to it."

Sota started to smile, almost as if he just caught his sibling getting scolded from their mother instead of him.

"And you," Kimiko turned and directed her speech towards the louder brother, "treat your twin with respect. He is scared and you are not helping the situation by distancing yourself away from him. Both of you need to start working together again instead of being at each other's throats. We need to start working together as a team, just like we used to. The only people we have here is each other, and I don't intend to lose either of you because you decide to do something stupid because you can't seem to work together."

There was a strong silence that fell between the three of them, and then they all started to laugh. Sota grabbed his brother and Kimiko, putting his arms around their shoulders and pulling them closer to him. The three made fun of Kimiko's small speech and teased her as if she was their sister, telling her that they were just fighting like all families do. As they walked down the street enjoying each other's company, they were able to forget about their troubled past and ignore most of the dirty looks they received by onlookers, with most of the whispers and rumors still being directed towards the young kunoichi rather than the twins.


	3. Agitation

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 3: ****Agitation**

* * *

**A/N: A week past my goal that I set out, but hey not to bad to say the least for getting back in the swing of things. Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter. I haven't written an outline of this story and letting myself have some creative fun with it so we shall see where this journey takes us :) **

* * *

**PrismRootStarlight: Hehehe I am building up the suspense, that is for sure! Haha the twins are a lot of fun to write, especially Sota because he is so much like Naruto and when I write Yuto he reminds me a lot of Hinata. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter :) **

* * *

Kimiko was fast asleep in the classroom not even bothering to pay attention to the lecture and what Baki was speaking about. She knew that they were going over the basics once again. It was a good thought to make sure that everyone was strong with the fundamentals, however, if these other chunins didn't know this information by now, Kimiko already knew, alongside the others, those of whom may not even realize it yet, that they would never be jonins if they still struggled at the basics this late in the game. The classes were starting to blur together, and she didn't have the mental capacity to be cooped up in a classroom anymore. She thought she was done with that when she was promoted to chunin, but, she had thought wrong.

As the lecture groaned on, the kunoichi shifted in her chair. It was a mistake. She winced from a shooting pain stemming from her hip. It felt as if she was being seared from a hot iron. When she first took her seat, she shuffled into it tenderly when she thought no one was watching her. However, she did catch the red-head's eyes in the back that seemed to be following her slow movement, but he had quickly shifted his gaze to look out the window, once again, disinterested in her. The pain was worse when she was sitting there motionless. It was fine when she was mobile, which shouldn't really be the case and at this point she thought that it was probably more psychosomatic than anything else. The kunoichi tried to keep her breath even, not to showcase her struggle, but she knew that at times, her breath was labored as she worked through the pain.

Her injury resulted from being in the wrong place and the wrong time. She had an idea that she wasn't going to be alone, that she didn't have enough time to grab what she needed and to get out, so instead of taking the easy way out, she tempted fate. That was a mistake that she told herself that she couldn't afford to make often. There was no point in fighting against it and she knew that it wasn't a fight that she would be able to win, even though she did put up a fight. However, that was probably why her injuries were worse than normal and how she was suffering the consequences for her actions now.

All in all, as the class went on, it was noticed that the classmates of the new trio had seemed to absorb their presence. The twins were excelling and blending in with the rest of the class, however, Kimiko was still the odd one out, or at least that is what it seemed like. She knew that there always had to be one person that the class hated, that they messed with, and now she realized that she was that person. She was the one that was ostracized against the rest; however, she also didn't do anything to fix the issue. She stayed in the back and didn't go out of her way to talk to anyone unless she was asked a direct question from the teacher. Baki had eventually given up with her once he realized that he knew the answer to every question that he thought would throw her.

She knew that it probably bothered him that she slept through his class, but he couldn't complain since whatever she was asked to do or answer, she found the correct answer or was able to demonstrate something properly. Nevertheless, even if her answers and demeanor scored points with Baki, it had the exact opposite effect on the rest of the class. She had been told she was a teacher's pet among other things that weren't as docile. On top of that, things have gotten out of hand a few times where the twins wanted to intervene, but Kimiko refused to let them do just that. With a stern look, the twins realized that it was not their place to step in. The last thing that the kunoichi wanted to have the twins face the same treatment as she was.

Kimiko was taken quickly out of her hazy thoughts when she heard Baki cough and then start muttering on about how he was going to give them a break this morning. Usually when there was a long lecture coming or when Baki had too much interaction with them he would proceed to leave the room and give everyone a much needed twenty-minute break. The only problem with this was that this was the time that the class usually tried to get under her skin and make remarks towards her. She didn't have the fortune to meet any of them, besides the twins, out of the classroom and for that she was thankful. It was only a matter of time before that faded as well, so she was trying to enjoy her time alone while she could.

She knew from last time that she had to pick her head up and come out of her napping state. Trying to sit through a whole day that faded into an evening lecture while being soaked to the bone was not fun for anyone. As a practical joke, one of the chunin decided to pour water over her head to spark a reaction from her. She simply rose from her chair and wiped off her desk with a towel before sitting back down in her sodden clothing. However, there were a few times where she would speak up, trying to defend herself, but those times never went well. So, to the best of her ability, she tried to not retaliate, to take it and remain silent in the face of adversity. Raising her head slowly and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she shifted in her chair, careful of her bruised hip. As she did so, she saw that the normal crew was coming over to antagonize her.

"So, get this guys, my father told me that your entire family is just a bunch of failures. Is that true?"

Kimiko just stared at the ringleader, who she thought was named Kageo, trying to negate any further conversation. Unfortunately, the rest of his group of antagonists decided to chime in as well.

"No, you have it wrong, Kageo, it's only her. She has to be the failure, the weakest one in her family. I mean, she couldn't even protect some flimsy vegetables for the Suna."

With Kageo's friend commenting, the class erupted into laughter besides a small few who were too busy with their own conversations.

"Oh, that's right! I mean, I don't even know how they were able to make her a chunin when she hasn't done anything but plead for her life against the Konoha shinobi. I mean, just look at her, she is plain and average, and with that wrapped arm to feign an injury, it is just pitiful," Kageo interjected gaining control over the class dynamic once again.

Kimiko took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She knew that he was just trying to bait her, but with her hip flaring up in pain, she really didn't want to tolerate this much longer. All she wanted to do was sleep away her injury, but she couldn't even seem to do that in peace.

"I mean, I don't even know why the Suna accepted her back as a shinobi and promoted her, let alone bringing her back to the village. They should have just given her to Konoha as a prisoner of war!" hollered Kageo.

"I bet she isn't even worth enough to be used as a bargaining chip!" One of the lackey's suggested.

Kageo's face contorted with something evil and sinister and he pressed his hands firmly on the desk and leaned towards Kimiko officially getting in her face as he spat the next words towards her.

"I mean, you all know who her father is, and you know as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I am just curious, Kimiko, are you just as messed up and insane as he is? I couldn't imagine what it must have been like living in a house with him knowing everything he has done for the Suna, with what he has extracted from our enemies, turning them against their own. Are you just as unstable as—"

"Are you done?" Kimiko asked politely, finally addressing a comment and cutting off Kageo's words all in the same breath.

She was getting tired of this conversation and their attitudes. However, no matter how angry she was, she made a promise that she would never lose control again. A promise that she couldn't break without fear that she wouldn't tarnish her memories.

"It seems like Kimiko is a bit sensitive about dear old dad. I mean was it that we called him crazy? No, it can't be… no, is it… no wait! It's because we compared the two of you together. Aww does widdle baby Kimi-weemee not want to be daddy's widdle girl?"

"I'm asking you to stop. I won't ask you for a second time."

"Wait, are you trying to threaten me, Kimiko?"

"What if I am? Are you going to go run to daddy?"

Instantly Kageo's hand reached out and Kimiko quickly reacted, pushing her chair out and standing up. Without even thinking about it, she swiftly pulled out a kunai just as Kageo pulled hard on her hair, she raised the sharp point of her weapon to his throat. Everything happened as quick as a blink of an eye, but Kimiko knew that she surprised Kageo. He wasn't expecting her to move that fast. In the same moment that he just merely reached out to pull on her hair, she was able to stand and draw a weapon to counteract whatever he was about to do to her. However, her hip didn't have any issue reminding her that she was injured but given the threat that was in front of her, she pushed the pain out of her mind and focused on the real problem in front of her. In the meantime, there was a hush that fell over the rest of the classroom and everyone was watching their interaction.

"I was about to show you that I would make you sorry, but it seems like you really don't know how to take a joke here, Kimiko." Kageo said in a voice as steady as he could manage, but it was obvious to the kunoichi that he was trying to process how she was able to move as fast as she did and defend herself.

"I think that—"

"Kimiko! Kageo!" an authoritative voice yelled in the room.

The two begrudgingly separated from each other and looked at Baki, who seemed to be fed up with their behavior.

"I will not tolerate violence between each other in my classroom. It is too hard to get blood up from these floors. If you have something to address with each other, then go outside and take care of it, you understand?"

"Sorry Sir, I was just making sure that our new kunoichi was feeling at home here in the Suna."

"I'm sure you were, but please save the lies for someone who cares, Kageo."

"My apologies!" Kageo bowed and took his seat but Kimiko remained standing.

She stood there with the kunai in her hand and she gripped it tightly.

"Is there a problem, Kimiko?"

The kunoichi didn't offer up an answer and instead gritted her teeth as she put back her kunai as a shiver of discomfort traveled up her spine.

"If you do not sit down, I am going to have to ask you to leave the classroom."

In her agitated state, instead of sitting back down and letting the issue blow over, she gathered up her few belongings she brought with her and made her way towards the exit. As she did so, Kageo sneered at her and stuck out his foot, without paying attention to her surroundings and already worked up, she was subjected to another annoying prank. She tripped and fell, her hands breaking her fall on the floor, just before Baki's shoes. Not only was she agitated, but she was now feeling embarrassed, not even realizing how her fall didn't hurt as much as it normally did.

She shoved herself back up and darted out of the room, her face hot. She wanted to go home, she wanted to go back to the farm and be with her grandfather. When she pushed open the doors to the outside, it was the first time that she allowed herself to breath, to calm down. Taking a few deep breaths to center herself again, it was then that she noticed that there seemed to be sand or some sort of gritty material on her hands. She rubbed it off on her shirt and made a note that when it was her duty to clean up the classroom in a few more rotations at the end of class, to give the room, especially the floor, a bit more of a cleaning.

* * *

Kimiko had made good on her promise. When she found herself with nowhere to go after she left the classroom, she found herself trying to win over the affections of one grumpy cat.

"One day he will warm up to you. You'll see."

"I guess," Kimiko shrugged her shoulders, answering the man who seemed to be content with carrying on most of the conversation that they were having by himself.

She didn't know why she came here, but for whatever reason, this store gave her a sense of calm. Maybe it was the warm, filtered air or the people inside minding their own business, but it was just a place where she could get away and off of the world for a while.

"I have found that he likes to be read to."

Kimiko was about to make a comment to the elderly man, but he simply had walked away to help assist another customer. She knew that the man was just trying to get her to read more and this was his way of trying to do so. However, in hindsight, it was the man's cat that she was trying to befriend, so maybe, jus maybe if she showed some initiative towards it then he would reciprocate. So, Kimiko picked up the book that was recommended to her and flipped it open to the first page. As she started off softly, making sure that she wasn't being rude or interrupting anyone else in the store, but she found that the longer she read to the cat, not only was it easier to get involved into the story, it also seemed to take her mind away from everything else that was going on around her. So much so, that she didn't even hear Yuto call her name.

"Kimi!" Yuto breathed hard next to the kunoichi making her slam the book shut and look at him in horror.

Yuto didn't even seemed phased by it, given that something important seemed to be on his mind. Usually he would have made a comment about her, trying to tease her in his own way given that it seemed Sota wasn't around, which was unusual. Even though the twins seemed to be the opposite of each other and constantly bicker with each other giving off the vibe that they hate each other, it couldn't be farther from the truth. The two of them were hardly seen apart.

"Yuto, is everything okay? Where is Sota?"

"Look Kimiko… He's fine… Split up… Looking for you…" Yuto tried to catch his breath all the while using it up to answer Kimiko's question.

Finally, Yuto stood up and placed his hands on his hips.

"We were looking for you. It's important, so Sota took one direction and I took the other. It took me a while but I remembered finding you in this place the last time, so I had a hunch and I tried it again."

"Okay, what is so important?"

"Well, Baki was pretty pissed when you left today. He took it out on the rest of the class and—"

"Okay, what has that got to do with—"

"If you would let me finish… Baki said that a better use of our time would be to train and hone our skills hands on since everyone was itching to fight. Aka basically calling your absent body and Kageo out."

"That still doesn't clarify things."

Yuto looked at Kimiko with the light vanishing from his eyes, alerting Kimiko that the next thing out of her mouth, she knew she wasn't going to like hearing.

"They are going to pit us against each other in tournament, just like they did in the chunin exams. They are going to make us randomly draw our opponents and then after that, they are going to take the winners and losers of each round and pair them up with other classmates that they think are their equal or at least ones that can provide an interesting fight for the Suna's senior committee members."


	4. A Warning

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 4: A Warning**

* * *

**A/N: Ahhh we finally have some character development and we are setting up for the first arc. Yay!**

* * *

**Flamecaster15: Thank you! Don't worry there is more excitement to come, that is for sure. We are just getting started. **

**moonlight46: Thank you for the compliments and I am glad that you are enjoying the character development. And I am glad that you caught onto the sand there... I wonder if that is something she is hiding or if someone has her back? I guess only time will tell... *insert evil author laugh here***

* * *

"Okay, so, Baki-sensei was furious when you left. Well, maybe not with the fact that you left but the fact that the class couldn't keep quiet after you did" Yuto stated matter-of-factly.

"How did he come to the idea to make us fight each other?"

"Since the class couldn't keep quiet and were antsy, Baki-sensei yelled at us to quiet down. The next thing I realize is that he has a horrible, evil grin on his face and stated that he was going to put something fun together for us. I really didn't like where this was going, but Baki-sensei continued. He said that he was going to get permission from the higher council or committee, or whatever they are called and told us to prepare."

"So, what you are saying is that this may actually not be as official as we think it is."

"I'm sure that this is as official as it can get. Baki-sensei was trusted with some of the most important tasks set out by the late Kazekage, so I am sure that little to no persuading will be needed with the council, especially if he manages to get the elders on board with his plan.

"That still doesn't explain how you know so much about this…"

"Well, Baki-sensei continued to talk as his students started to question him, and with delight, he started to tell us about his plans. He was going to give us a bit of a competition to see if we could put our money where our mouth was and that we were going to be paired up against each other just like what happened in the chunin exam."

"Yuto, you forget that you and I were never there, neither was Sota and—"

"I know that, but, apparently at the end of the second test they had a preliminary round and then went to the final tournament that pitted everyone that qualified against each other. That was also when the Sand shinobi launched their attach on Konoha."

"So, what you are saying is that not only is this fight going to be hard, but that we are basically going to be a show for spectators to watch?"

"I mean, not exactly those words but I guess you can sum it up to that."

Kimiko sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and started to chew on it, pulling the fine layer of skin with her teeth and biting it off. A weird, anxious trait that she had picked up over the years. Sometimes she wished that she could play with hair or rub the back of her neck, something pretty, something not as noticeable as a chewed-up lip. However, as she contemplated how she was going to deal with the news, she looked at Yuto and he was a fine shade of puke green. He looked almost as if he was going to be sick in the middle of the store.

The kunoichi knew that if she was feeling hesitant by the development that she couldn't imagine how Yuto felt. He was never much on the whole fighting aspect of being a shinobi. He did it to help and to look out for his brother. Usually it was herself and Sota that did the heavy lifting while Yuto watched their backs and made sure all their basic and medical needs were met. However, there were still a few things that she was curious about, so she proceeded onward, just cautiously to make sure that if Yuto did vomit, it was not all over her or any of the merchandise in the store.

"How are we going to _randomly select_ who we are up against? When is this supposed to take place, this drawing or whatever it is?" Kimiko asked while using air quotes.

"He told us that we are essentially going to be drawing names out of a hat. They are going to go by and have one person select from a hat and find their pair, and then move down the line until everyone is associated with another. Also, this is supposed to happen tomorrow."

"Are we sure that Baki-sensei will have the approval by then?"

Yuto gave her a disdainful look and that was all she needed to know. Instead of biting her lip this time, Kimiko's jaw clenched as she thought about their next steps. She wanted to make sure that Yuto and Sota were okay, that neither of them was injured in this, but it doesn't look like that there was much she could do. She needed to make sure that they were okay. She told them that she would when they moved here, and she was bound and determined to keep her word. She, at least if she could help it, would try to make sure no ill-fate was brought towards them. They were the last family that she had, and she was going to do everything in her power to protect them.

"I really don't want to have to fight you or Sota, Kimi…"

Kimiko looked at Yuto and saw that his worried face was twisted even more so now as he was considering the possibilities that they may have to fight against each other.

"I mean, Sota and I fight all the time, but that is different. I don't think I could hurt him or have the intent to hurt him and you Kimi, you're like a sister to us both. I know that Sota would try his best against you since you have always just been a touch better with the detailed side of things, but you're our family and I don't think I could do that…"

With those words, Kimiko's chest filled with warmth. She pushed her anxiety aside and with nothing but love in her voice, she teased and comforted Yuto.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. The odds of us fighting against each other are pretty low. I mean if we were to fight against each other, I know full and well I would just tap out and refuse to fight you. Now, Sota on the other hand… I know he may make you pay for not washing his laundry with yours the other day…"

Yuto chuckled and shoved Kimiko's shoulder playfully and she returned the action.

"But truly, if that is the case that we are going to have these matches, we really do need to start practicing and training."

At the words, Yuto seem to turn an even darker shade of green. The idea of training even worse than the actual fighting itself. Kimiko knew that Yuto didn't mind hard work, but he preferred to learn everything from a book and discount physical labor.

"I almost forgot to say that not only are we going to be in these fighting matches, but Baki-sensei wants to try out our skills. So, also starting tomorrow, there will be different drills that we need to complete in order to obtain high marks."

Kimiko shook her head, "What is the point of all of this anyway? I mean either evaluate us as we fight or drills, but I think it is a bit strange to evaluate both separately when in theory we showcase all of that within the battles?"

"See I was thinking that same thing and I have concluded that the only reason for that is to evaluate how we not only do with individual skills but with each other. That way when the time comes that they need to pair people up in missions together, then they know who works well and what area's people will need to improve upon in order to meet the threshold to go out of the village and complete assigned tasks."

"I mean, that would make sense to a point if we weren't already in our original genin groups. I doubt that they would want to split those up easily given that most nations prefer to work in three-celled teams. Plus, why would you want to break up a group that had been working hard and forming a bond with each other just to tear it up?"

"Those are all great questions that I honestly don't have an answer for. I mean, maybe in case they want to make smaller or larger groups? Who knows?"

"I guess we will find out when the time is right then, I guess."

Yuto just responded with a shrug of the shoulders and Kimiko offered up a smile to him. He was starting to look less green now than before, which was a good sign. She knew that it wouldn't help her to worry because that only meant she would suffer twice about the predicament they all found themselves in. She knew that moving to the sand village would be different, but she didn't realize that she would have to revisit her genin days. Using her fist, Kimiko reaches forward and taps Yuto's chest, getting his attention.

"Everything is going to be okay; you'll see."

"Thanks, Kimi."

However, with a smile, she didn't let the conversation stay on a serious topic for long, "I mean, before we start training you may want to get some sleep now. Here I'll walk you home and hopefully I'll catch your brother on the way."

Yuto huffed, "I don't need you to walk me home, not to mention that you need to get some rest too. Maybe if you stopped staying out at all hours of the night than you wouldn't be perceived as a lazy slacker who just sleeps in class all day."

Kimiko stuck her tongue out at him for the comment but the two of them knew it was all in good fun.

"I am sure that you are the only one who thinks of me that way, you are my harshest critic."

"Shouldn't that be yourself?"

The kunoichi feigned as if she was thinking about it, but she shook her head, "No, it is most definitely you."

Yuto rolled his eyes and pushed Kimiko's shoulder away from him in a playful manner. The two then exited the store together in search of Sota. However, even if Yuto was not only a good teammate and a good med-nin, he failed to realize that Kimiko was hurt. As she walked, she had a slight gait in her step, her other leg overcompensating for her injured hip, but she also showed no signs of pain written on her face, as if she didn't want to trouble those around her.

* * *

"See I told you that I would have better luck, you should have just followed me," exclaimed Yuto.

"_You should have just followed me," _Sota started to mock his younger brother.

"You know you are infuriating. This is why I don't understand how the forces of fate made you the older one, you act like your five years old!" Yuto said, clearly agitated with his brother's teasing.

"_You know you are infuriating. This is why I don't understand how the forces of fate made you the older one, you act like your five years old,_" Sota responded, raising his voices a few octaves.

"You're such a child. I'm heading in for the night, see to it that Kimi gets back okay," Yuto said as he stomped up towards the apartment that the two brothers shared.

There was a grin spread wide on Sota's face and Kimiko just held back a laugh as to not make matters worse.

"You know, you don't have to get under his skin so much."

Sota's smile started to fade and he gazed and the kunoichi, "I know, but if I don't who else will? I'm trying to make sure he doesn't think about the move so much," he said as he leaned up against the fence line out of sight of the apartment complex.

Kimiko didn't have anything to say but instead, she joined Sota and leaned up against the fence close enough to her friend to feel his heat radiate off of him.

"And how are you doing with the move?"

There was a moment of silence, and instead of answering the question, Sota dug around in his kunai pouch, pulling out a lighter and a pack of discounted cigarettes. Kimiko doesn't make a comment as Sota messes around and tries to light the tobacco and looks up at the fading light from the sky. Sota was finally able to light his cigarette and he gazed up into the sky that was hazy with heat, taking a long drag. The two knew better than to think that this place would see much rain, but, the night in the desert did drastically become colder than that of the day; something that no one in the trio expected. They had ideas that it would be a swing in the temperature decline, however they didn't realize it would be so great.

"I thought that you were going to quit smoking."

"Eh, I did but I realized that it is a lot harder than it looks to cut cold turkey than I thought."

"You know, I could just tell Yuto—"

"I will literally kill you if you do that," Sota exclaimed as he jumped off the fence.

Kimiko chuckled at Sota's frantic actions.

"You know how he gets. He acts just like mom and I really don't want to have to deal with that right now. That is the last thing that I need."

"Sure, sure. Just don't involve me when he does find out."

"Oh, you know I will. I'm not going to take the heat of this alone from him. Don't worry, I will make sure to throw you under the theoretical bus about you knowing and never telling him."

"Oh gee, thanks," Kimiko rolled her eyes and it was Sota's turn to laugh as he returned to his place next to the kunoichi.

The two enjoyed each other's company as the stars started to come out and be a part of the night sky. Even though the climate was more enjoyable where they used to live, no one could deny a view like this. The clarity of the stars in the middle of the desert, even in a densely populated village was just spectacular. It was a view shared by the Gods.

"So, why are you really smoking? I know it just isn't because you claim you are having a hard time quitting."

"Let's just chalk it up to nerves and the fact that the nicotine calms me down. Gives my hyperactive brain something to focus on for a bit."

"I won't push, but I wouldn't be doing my job as your friend by not giving you the spiel that cigarettes are bad for you. It is a leading cause of death among many."

A look of melancholy washed over Sota's face, "Don't worry, as a shinobi, I probably won't live long enough for the effects of smoking to ever present itself."

Kimi took a deep breath and held it, knowing that the mood of the conversation was changing into a sadder one. She looked over to her friend and caught his eye.

"You know I wouldn't let that happen to you."

Sota playfully shoves her away from him and Kimiko just returns to her place.

"I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are."

"Don't blow me off, Sota."

"I'm not. I just know that everyone goes out somehow, that it is just a matter of when our time is up."

"Sota…"

"Kimiko."

The two of them had a brief pause that passed between the two and Kimiko knew that she wouldn't get anything more out of her friend about the matter.

"So, on another note, what is the plan with these upcoming examinations that Yuto told me about?"

A gleeful glint entered Sota's eyes as he speaks of the challenges ahead of them in an excited tone.

"Well, I really plan to make them see my skills. I am going to try to highlight the things that I am best at. Hopefully, not only would I be the center of attention, but I think it would save Yuto from being in the spotlight. He doesn't work well under pressure like that and I know that his technical skills aren't where they really need to be. That way, he doesn't make a fool of himself and I remain at the top as the superior brother."

"That is very brave of you and kind of you to do something like that for your brother, I wish that I could share in that same level of unselfishness," Kimiko mocked.

Sota beamed at her, "I mean, I figured that you wouldn't take the same approach as me with all of this. Not everyone can be this good looking and talented."

"Oh, I know, how do you ever cope with it?"

"Some days are really hard, it's almost impossible to get over how popular I am."

"I mean, I feel honored that someone like you still hangs out with the likes of me."

"Trust me, it puts a stain on my reputation sometimes. If you thought my brother was bad, you're even worse. Some of those rumors about you are pretty nasty."

Kimiko snorts, "Only a few nasty rumors?"

"Only a few."

The two of them start laughing and Kimiko clutches her side bending over slightly. When the two of them finally settle down, Kimiko answers his original question on a more serious note.

"You were right in assuming that my plan is different than yours. You have a good plan trying to take care of Yuto, so I think that I am just going to try and stay in the middle of the pack. Not be the best, not be the worst, but directly in the middle for everything."

"Don't want to give everything away?"

"I don't know, I just have a feeling that I should still keep to myself."

"Anything that you need to tell myself and Yuto?"

"No, nothing yet. It's just a feeling. I want to see what all happens and if anything plays out. I doubt anything will happen, but I am not ready to show all my cards just yet."

"Makes sense," Sota stated, finishing his cigarette and throwing the butt of it on the ground only to proceed to stomp out any residual heat that may be coming from it. He fingered the pack in his bag again and was tempted to pull out another one but decided against it as he just left his hand against his side.

"I guess with that, I best be on my way."

"Yeah, I won't hear the end of it if I wake my brother up once he has gone to sleep. He is the grouchiest person I have ever met in that regard."

Kimiko smiled and pulled her friend into a hug. They hugged warmly for a few seconds and pulled away, exchanging good nights to each other.

"You know, I almost forgot to tell you this."

The kunoichi furrowed her eyebrow, "what do you mean?"

"It's just a warning that I received, and I can't validate my sources since I don't know much about the class yet, but I was told to stay away from that Gaara kid. That if I was to be paired with him to try and forfeit the match or injure myself somehow to get out of fighting him."

"That is a weird thing to say. Who exactly is this Gaara person in our class?"

Sota rolled his eyes, "he is the red head that sits behind you."

"Really? Him?"

"Yes, him. He is Gaara and is one of the sand siblings."

"Isn't Temari and Kankuro a part of that as well? Isn't that what their genin group was called? So I guess that Gaara then makes up the third spot?"

"Yes, to all of those questions. Apparently, he was brutal in the chunin exams. Everyone that he came across he killed them with a crazy smile plastered on his face, even if it was someone from his own village. Those three are basically royalty here. People were saying that the next Kage for the Suna will probably be one of those three, since the position has been in their family for generations and they are thinking that if Gaara is chosen he will become a tyrant just like that crazy Kage in the Village of the Hidden Mist. "

"Okay, that is interesting and a little curious, but is he really that strong? I mean it just sounds like he is filled with bloodlust and wants to kill. What makes him so strong and filled with power?"

"He is the Suna's monster. He was made into the jinchuuriki of the one-tail."

A chill went down the back of her spine at the news. She had heard horrible things about jinchuuriki, that they were people to be avoided at all costs. Or, at least, that was what she was taught, but a blonde-headed shinobi in Konoha that she had met once or twice changed her personal views on the matter. She was still apprehensive about the whole thing, but she had a feeling that the blonde that she met was the exception to the rule. He was an unusual character and she had a feeling that most jinchuuriki's were described as how this Gaara character was. However, there was something in the back of her mind that didn't sit well with her. Every time that she was in class next to him, she never felt the feeling of bloodlust come off him. Maybe boredom, but nothing else.

It was true, however, that the whole class seemed to fear him, so maybe there were truths in the warning that Sota was given. She noted that she was the only one who dared to sit next to him, and in her own selfishness, she wondered if she sat closer to him, would the other's in class dare to taunt her like they did. That thought passed as soon as it came, Kimiko wasn't one to use another for her advantage and she wasn't going to start now. That would be something her father would do and she made a point to be the exact opposite of him if she could help it. Nevertheless, Kimiko thought back to the redhead boy that sat behind her and realized that not even his siblings sat next to him, they also seem to avoid him as if he was the plague. It was a fleeting thought, but Kimiko couldn't help but think that he must be lonely with no one ever wanting to be around him.

"Thank you for the heads up, I will try to keep my distance then."

"Good, I don't want to have to clean up after you," Sota teased and Kimiko rolled her eyes him returning her action with a mock salute.

"Yeah, yeah, now before Yuto comes out to yell at the two of us here, I'm going to take my leave first."

"No worries, I mean, I have to find some other ways to annoy him come the morning."

"You're going to be the reason why his hair turns gray early, you know that?"

"Then it would just be another thing to mess with him about," Sota chuckled evilly as if he was a mastermind planning his next attack.

Kimiko turns and waves, telling her friend goodnight for the final time. However, as she starts walking down the dusty road, she hears her name being called out again from behind her. Turning around she looks at Sota, his figure illuminated by the apartment lights and nothing else. The effect of the light on his body made it seem shadowy and threatening in a way.

"I almost forgot to say something to you."

"What is it?"

"It may not be now, but I want you to know that it will get better, that it will be okay."

Kimiko's heat skipped a beat. Sota and her, they didn't do this. They didn't talk about the past, so why was he bringing something like this up.

"I don't—don't know what you are talking about," Kimiko works through her stutter.

"One day you are going to have to break that promise that you made to him. There will be no way around it. It may not be today, or even in the matches they have set up for us, but you will be forced to use the powers you are so desperate to hide."

"Sota, I don't know what you are talking about here."

"Don't give me that Kimi. I know that we don't do this, so you know that it means something if this comes from me."

"Again, Sota—"

"I want you to know that when you have to use those techniques again, it is going to be okay. It won't deface your memory of him and he won't hate you, even if you break your promise."

Kimiko felt her mouth go dry and her mind drew a blank every time she wanted to say something. Instead of waiting, Sota turned and headed inside with the parting words of, "Oh, and get that hip of yours looked at. I don't want to win this competition based on a technicality of you already being injured."

The kunoichi felt herself let go of a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She waited until she heard the twin's apartment door close and that was when her body allowed her to move again. She had an unresolved feeling settle in her chest as Sota's words bounced around in her head. Sota's way of dealing with things may be in the way of smoking tobacco, but she liked to make herself so physically tired that her brain couldn't think about anything else but sleep. So, she knew that the only thing left to do to deal with her emotions and feelings wound up inside of her was to train, and to train hard until she felt like collapsing.


	5. The Training Grounds

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 5: ****The Training Grounds**

* * *

**Flamecaster15: Oh yeah the twins by far are probably my favorite characters. I love writing them since they are pretty much exact opposites of each other. And hehehe, who knows who she will be paired up... I mean... I can't make it that simple... can I? :P**

**moonlight46: I am gald that you liked the last chapter! And hahah I can't promise you that our beloved blond will make an apperence any time soon, but he will at least show up iin a couple of chapters once this story gets up and off the ground! And oh, trust me, you're in for a wild ride with everything with the powers and matches and everything else in regards to Kimiko! We are just getting started!**

**Ojay1307: Thanks for the compliment! I will definitely have to look into your stories, your Obito one looks interesting to me :) **

* * *

Kimiko was sweat as she was alternating between punching a solid mass of upright wood, doing push ups in a handstand, and running around the training ground as she tired herself out. She knew that she should be taking an easy, but she also wanted to keep her body loose. She knew that her injuries, even though inconvenient, where those that didn't pose much threat to her physical abilities in the long run—even if the bruising was uncomfortable. The kunoichi went from one exercise directly into the next one not allowing her body a break in between sets. Pushing herself back up into a handstand, her arms quaked with her body weight. Kimiko held on and steadied herself as sweat dripped down her nose.

Blood was rushing to her head and she could feel the heat of her circulatory system put pressure on her face as she struggled to complete a pushup. She tried to talk herself through the workout as she was clearly pushing herself to her physical limits. She told herself it was a battle of mind over matter, that her mind told her body to quit. She had a silent conversation with herself in the dead of night as she completed another push up. Breathing heavily, she allowed herself to pause when she returned to her where her arms were straight in the stance. There were times, like now, that she felt that she had hit a wall while training, that there was no way to improve the skills that she had right now. Maybe she was being to hard on herself and with all things, it took time to build up the skills of a shinobi. Just like she had the goals of receiving the chunin promotion, now her goals were set on something higher, more difficult to obtain.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself down again, and again, starting to lose count as her already wobbly frame seem to shake even more. As the burning sensation seemed to worsen in her arms, the kunoichi pushed herself even more. This time, she focused her weight onto one hand and slowly proceeded to raise her other. She balanced in the air with her one palm pressed as firmly as she could with the sandy ground below her. She could feel every grain of sand dig into her hand as if it were tiny stickers that came off plants trying to penetrate her skin and cause discomfort from disrupting its resting place. This time, with her balance exercise, she couldn't talk her mind out of telling her body that it was done. It was silent and as she inhaled a breath, that was when her arm buckled underneath her. She fell forward, rolling forward on her arm, catching herself before she smacked face first into the ground. However, as she came down, she landed on the same side of her bruised hip and as it collided with the earth, she let out a sharp hiss.

She had a bit of water form at the corner of her eyes as she wasn't expecting the sharp burst of pain when she fell. She laid on her side for a while, letting the pain subside as she tried to catch her breath. When the pain stopped radiating and turned into the same dull bruised feeling, she had experienced for most of the day, she rolled onto her back instead of getting up. It was mostly past midnight and into the early morning hours based on how dark it was outside. Even though the stars shown above her, it was so dark that she had a hard time seeing five feet in front of her. Kimiko stared up at the stars being able to see them even better since she was slightly outside of the main village. She reached up with her arm that felt like jelly and tried to clasp one of the stars into her fists. Her long hair was spread out all around her and most of her smaller tendrils that framed her face were now sticking to it. As she regained a normal breathing rhythm, she could feel the soreness taking over her body from the fatigue of a good workout—which she would probably regret in the morning once she found a place to sleep for the night.

The cool air whipped across her face, but the sand still held much of its daily warmth from being heated by the sun all day. Overall, even though she was sweaty, it was a pleasant sensation. It was almost like eating cold watermelon and watching the setting sun after being out in the water of a lake or ocean all day. She then started to think of how if Sota knew she was training right now that he would be lecturing her probably as much as his younger twin would be. She knew that she should probably get her hip checked out, but she figured that in the hour before she had to be in class, she would run and patch herself up, figure out the true extent of the damage after a day of trying to let herself heal. She knew that it could have been a lot worse. She was older now. She could fight back... or at least run.

Taking a deep breath and letting her arm drop like a paper weight on the sand next to her, Kimiko thought again of the twins, especially Sota. She was curious as to how he was able to figure that her hip was hurting her, because she thought that she wasn't making it obvious. She figured that if she could fool Yuto, then she could get away with it. However, now that did not seem likely to happen. She had a feeling that Sota would tell Yuto and she would have to deal with the twin's nagging. However, Sota noticing her injuries, he had a knack for picking up on those sorts of things. He had an amazing ability to blend into his surroundings and gather information. On the other side of the coin, his twin was an amazing medical nin who probably rivaled those in Konoha with all his practice and research he did over countless of hours, pouring over books and information as if his life depended on it. In a way, Kimiko was sure, that someday he would depend on his genius tendencies in the medical field.

She knew that Yuto would be picked up by the main hospital here in the Suna for his skills which would allow him to get off the front lines. That was something that he strived for since he became a shinobi with his brother. Yuto held to the background, but Kimiko never wished for anyone besides him to watch her back. She knew that if need be, he wouldn't hesitate to step in and risk his lives for theirs, his medical training taking precedence over his panic as he evaluated risk and how to process information in order to best suit the team. Sota, on the other hand, wanted to be on the front lines, but, she knew that it was only a matter of time before someone noticed Sota's unique skill set to gather information. He was the most likely of the three of them to rise to the level of a jonin first, especially if he considers the route of specialization. She was sure that Sota was going to be a Tokubetsu jonin in the future with his surveillance skills.

Both twins not only worked will with her, but with each other as well. They had a twin's intuition over what the other was going to do. They both used similar jutus and natures to help aid the other. Any organization in the Suna would be lucky to gain either of their skillsets within their higher ranks. She just didn't know where that left her. She knew that she wasn't acknowledging her own abilities and strengths, but at the same time, she couldn't think of how she was better than anyone at anything. Sure, she was probably the fastest in the group and her taijutsu was strong, but anyone could achieve that with physical training. She wasn't as smart as Yuto nor as brave as Sota. The kunoichi couldn't find something that she was the best at. As she told Sota, she was going to try to be average at the skills tests, because well, that was how she viewed herself. She was average. Nothing more, nothing less. She was told by her grandfather that her way of thinking was filled with humility and she was humble about her skills, but all of that seemed like a lie.

However, a slight chill went down the kunoichi's spine. Something in the air changed and it had nothing to do with the temperature. She didn't like the weird feeling that washed over her. Instantly, in one movement, she rolled backwards over her head while throwing a kunai into the night. She landed on her feet in a crouching position, her body protesting her sudden movements, but her mind was active, and her eyes were scanning the horizon. Something… _someone _was out there, and they were watching her. She breathed steadily through her nostrils as all her senses were instantly opened fully with her blood rushing through her ears. Whoever was out there had her full attention.

Kimiko stayed were she was and noted that she never heard the kunai hit anything. It zipped through the air, but it didn't fall to the ground, nor did it hit something. Someone either caught the kunai or muffled its effect somehow. Suddenly, she heard a creaking sound and her eyes widened as she moved out of the way just in time. Three knives whizzed through the air headed straight for her figure under the cover of night. She dodged cautiously and kept low to the ground knowing that if she stood up or jumped it would not only make her an easier target to hit, but it exposed more of an area of mass to land an attack. She didn't have much in the terms of eyesight to go on, but she did have the knowledge going for her that her attacker would be easy to spot given that the training ground was out in the open and close to the walls of the village. Unlike the woods and the ocean that surrounded the farmland she was used to working on, this was nothing but drifting waves of moving sand.

She knew that the Suna used everything that they were given and working on uneven ground not only built stronger shinobi, but it also allowed for greater chakra control to remain steady. The kunoichi thought hard about where her enemy was and the only thing that she could think of was the large wall of the obstacle course that was used to train genin on maneuverability. There were no other places to hide but beyond that wall. However, she wasted too much time and her opponent took the opening. Before Kimiko could stand and make a move of her own trying to expose whoever was hiding behind a wall launching attacks at her, she heard the creaking noise again. This time, instead of knives, a large object launched itself at the kunoichi. The object rushed her and as it came closer, Kimiko could make out the outline of a body. She couldn't react fast enough to dodge them with her already fatigued body.

The person threw its weight onto her and pushed her into the ground almost as I they body slammed her. All the air was forced out of her lungs in a wet cough. Her eyes watered and she gasped the burning feeling in her lungs overriding every other irritation she may have been feeling. However, as her mind started to panic and race, Kimiko silently spoke to herself again and she thought about her next moves in sequence. A half a second went by and Kimiko latched onto the sleeve of her opponent, pulling at the same time she shifted her weight, using a simple judo technique to switch her position with her enemy into a more favorable one for herself. She caused her opponent to shift their weight to the side opening their center of gravity to a larger area. Without hesitation, she rolled with the person, the figure now inches away from her face as she was directly on top of them, now holding their arm in her grasp.

Realization then dawned upon her as she had a clear view of who she was facing, and surprise lit up her features all the while her lungs filling with air. This was no human or shinobi, rather it was a puppet. Her revelation into this new knowledge made her stall and once again, the puppet wielder opened its mouth and Kimiko saw her original kunai looking up at her, the starlight pressing a soft glint onto the sharp exterior surface. Kimiko moved as quickly as she could and scrambled off the puppet but when the kunai was ejected from the puppet's mouth, she felt the sharp metal slice through her cheek. Hot liquid immediately dripped down her cheek even though the original cut seemed small and shallow. When the puppet was released from her body weight it instantly retreated into the night towards its master.

Kimiko wasn't naïve enough to think that it would stop attacking her, so instead, she decided to level the playing field. She figured that she would have to take a chance and stood up, wiping her arm across her face, trying to clear her cheek of her blood even though she knew she just smeared it instead. If this puppet master wanted to hide from her, that was fine. She would stop them and their annoying puppet, but this time, she wasn't going to get caught off guard. Without thinking, she proceeded to make the ninjutsu hand signs for a fire release. She was going to light up her field of vision—_literality. _Quickly taking in a deep breath, even with protest of her lungs, she blew the air through the hand sign that was in the shape of a "c" in front of her mouth.

"Blazing meteors," Kimiko announced in the virtually silent night, as a myriad of small, irregularly shaped fireballs left her mouth.

In rapid succession the kunoichi aimed towards the general area of the high wall and around it, making sure that she spread out her attack to allow herself more visibility of the area around her. At first, she didn't see anything, but as the last meteor left her mouth, she saw movement and her enemy had retreated towards the top of the high wall like she had suspected. She figured that her ninjutsu took the puppet master off guard and given the medium range of her attack, they wanted to be safer rather than sorry when it came to their puppet. The master was seated directly on top of the wall and the puppet moved precariously close to its owner. It seemed as if they were just watching her, almost as if they were trying to make out what kind of threat she posed to them. If Kimiko knew anything about puppet masters, it was that they favored distance with their opponents.

The meteors hit the earth and their light was diminished by the sand, but in the flames around her, Kimiko had no issue seeing where she needed to go. The flames licked in the clear reflection of her eyes and the kunoichi changed her ending hand sign from a '"c" to the hand sign that denoted a tiger, however, instead of the true tiger hand sign, this one was just with one hand. Kimiko took a deep breath, using the hand sign to center her chakra and without warning, she shoved all her chakra towards her feet. With a loud crack, almost as if thunder had just erupted and shook the earth she was standing on, Kimiko had covered the distance between her and the puppet master. She didn't bother with the puppet that she crossed and instead when straight for the puppet master themselves.

As she appeared before them, she saw the look of astonishment on their painted face as if they couldn't believe that she was there that quickly. It was in these moments that she was happy she devoted so much time to her taijutsu abilities. If everything else was taken away from her she at least had that. Kimiko reached out with her bandaged hand trying to force the male puppet master down towards the ground but just as she touched him, he gave her a sinister smile that children gave to their parents before they were about to challenge authority and play with their food. He disappeared into a puff of smoke and in his place was another puppet that was waiting for her. Its chest paneling flew open and Kimiko had no choice but to fall forward into the puppet, straight into the trap that had be laid for her. She crashed into the chamber and felt her body smash against the small and enclosed space. The chamber closed around her and she could hear blood rush through her ears as her heart started to beat rapidly.

She wasn't claustrophobic but she knew that this was not a good place to be. There were too many things that could go wrong, too many variables that could happen while she was this puppet's hostage. Instead of being calm, panic started to take over as she did a quick first glance, knowing that it would be practically impossible to break out of here. Any shinobi in their right mind would feel the fear creeping up on the back of their neck in this type of situation that held no hope. Kimiko swallowed what felt like a rock scraping down her throat. It felt like she had a severe sore throat after a week of having the flu. She heard the creaking noise again come from the outside of the chamber and Kimiko knew that if she didn't come up with something right now, she was going to die. At this realization, her body took control and she could feel almost what seemed to be electricity surge through her body. Her fingertips of her bandage hand and arm lit up with an electrical current resembling small traces of lightning.

"No!" Kimiko shouted into the night and fought against every instinct in her body as she used her unbandaged hand to cradle the other, suppressing her abilities into her own chest.

Kimiko didn't realize that she closed her eyes and the world around her became silent. She let herself take a breath before opening her eyes again, realizing that today was not the day that she was going to die, nor was it the day that she was going to break her promise.

"Shit… man you scared me… Wait, what? What do you want?"

The kunoichi heard the puppet master speaking to someone else on the outside of the chamber, but she never heard the person return a single word that was said.

"I was just messing around… JESUS, get that crap off of me… here I'll let her go… I'LL LET HER GO JUST DON'T TOUCH ME!" the puppet master yelled.

The kunoichi didn't have any time to think about what was happening, but at once, she was released and fell face first in the sand. She spat it out of her mouth and shakily stood, not knowing what situation she was going to find herself in. Her meteors were now just small bundles of embers lying on the ground, but it was enough to see what was going on. It was Kimiko's turn to be shocked. Both puppets were encapsulated in sand. One was completely halted, the original one that she fought against, and the one that she was inside of, all its joints were stiff with sand as it struggled to close the interworking's of the panels of its stomach cavity. Not only that, but she was right in feeling that she was about to die, as the original puppets limbs were now taken off and blades extended into the air, ready to pierce the cavity of the second puppet. Sand fought against the chakra strands keeping these blades in the air.

Kimiko followed the chakra strands of the puppet master and saw the sand also wrapped around his hands, wrists and legs. The sand seemed to pulsate on the puppet master, causing him constrictive pain as if the sand was like a snake that was squeezing its prey to death.

"See, she is free. Now let me go you _freak,_" the puppet master stressed with no consideration of the additional person.

At the words, the sand instantly lifted, and the puppet master recalled his puppets. One of the puppets disappeared into a scroll and the other one was wrapped tightly up and the puppet master carried the object on his back as if it was a backpack. The puppet master licked his lips and a look of disgust crossed his face. He ignored the other person standing there and instead walked confidently towards Kimiko.

"I wanted to see if the rumors were true, but unfortunately and with my lack of surprise they actually are. I have no idea how you were able to defeat those Konoha nins with those twins who are no threat to any shinobi."

Kimiko didn't say anything to the shinobi that was now in arms reach of her but still held her ground, not knowing what to expect even with what she wanted to assume was help. The two never officially met, but she knew who he was from class. In the chaos of the fight, his name didn't register in her mind until now.

"Kankuro, right?" the kunoichi asked more as a statement rather than a question.

Kankuro gave her a toothy smile as he leaned down and whispered venom into her ear, "Don't worry Matsuda, I have a feeling that you and I are going to have a rematch someday and I look forward to kicking your ass without any… _interruptions._"

Kimiko swallowed harshly for the second time that night knowing that the man next to her had full intentions of following through with his threat. Kankuro glanced behind him and Kimiko saw him roll his eyes as he stood up to his full height, placed his hands in his pockets, and proceeded to walk away. Kimiko knew that it wasn't an empty threat coming from him like it was with the others. She had no idea why he wanted to fight her, but if the rumors brought out people like this who wanted to fight her and sneak up to her in the village, the rumors were worse than she thought. If these rumors evoked this kind of response from people like Kankuro, she was going to have to watch her back even more.

However, the sand shifting under her feet caught her attention as the second figure that saved her recalled the defensive sand he had been using. She watched as he closed his fist and made a cork of sand closing off the large guard on his back. Without saying anything, the figure turned and started to walk off the training field, leaving her alone.

"Hey, wait!" Kimiko called out and took a step forward without thinking.

The figured stopped and glanced at her over his shoulder. Kimiko had no issue making out the bright red hear complimented by the symbol of love tattooed on the figure's forehead even with the embers almost completely extinguished. Without a doubt, this was the jinchuriki that Sota had spoken of. This was the same person that Sota told her to stay away from. However, at the same time, if this was Gaara and that was his brother, Kankuro, she had effectively saved her from even his own family who apparently wanted her dead.

"You're Gaara, right?" Kimiko questioned cautiously.

Instead of answering her question, or saying anything at all, Gaara continued to stand there and maintained his hard composure never yielding any emotion to her nor giving her the indication that he would speak to her any time soon.

"Uhh… Well…" Kimiko started, holding her arm and looking down at the ground, biting her lip, "thank you."

Without a word or any indication that he heard her, Gaara turned around and took off leaving Kimiko in complete darkness as the flames of her dying embers dissipated into the cool night.


	6. The Trials

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 6:**** The Trials**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! My Master's classes have been kicking my butt and being an essential employee in this weird time has been even worse than usual since it is literally only us engineers and the operators at the plant right now. Anyway, I will try to update sooner, but that is pending my time with work and my classwork. Please bear with me and I hope you all are staying safe!**

* * *

**Flamecaster15: I am happy that you like it so much :) **

**moonlight46: Oh don't worry, more drama and curiosities will be building up before anything will be answered... **

* * *

There was something magical about a hot bath and some air activated heating pads. She was sore all over after the impromptu fight last night with Kankuro and her unusual savior, but Kimiko was happy that right before sun up she had time to tend to her own wounds before class. She had a small bandage covering her cheek where Kankuro's puppet had attacked her and she also had a heating pad on her hip and lower back. When she had the wind knocked out of her, she didn't realize how much it really had affected her until the adrenalin wore off. With the bath and the heat to her sore bruises she felt like a new person, she was even walking more normally than the previous day.

As she walked into class, she noticed the look that both Sota and Yuto game her. Yuto had the color drained from his face and Sota stood up taller, his back becoming rigid with her appearance. He knew that she didn't have that cut on her face when they parted and now the question was written on his face almost as if he was asking her who gave her the mark. She shook her head slightly, almost making it seem as if she was fixing her hair and Sota took the queue. He would either find out what happened from his brother, or she would tell him later, so he returned to the group of students he was talking to which included Kankuro.

Kimiko caught the sand sibling's gaze and she held it, her gaze only breaking when Yuto came up next to her. He was still pale but now he had some heat to his cheeks, obviously angry at the sight of Kimiko's appearance. She smiled tentatively at her friend, but he wasn't having any of it.

"What happened? I told Sota to take you home!"

Kimiko put her hands up in surrender, "he did, I just decided to get in some late-night training—"

"Late night training doesn't leave you injured, what honestly were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking…"

"Exactly! Especially with this trial system that is supposed to go on today, how could you be so reckless?" Yuto exclaimed.

Kimiko took a deep breath and heard the class chuckling behind her about Yuto's actions towards her. He really was like a mother hen in these situations, but she knew that nothing good would come of the two of them associating with each other like they were. The last thing she needed was one of the twin's becoming terrorized as well. With what she had to deal with last night, she was sure that there was more at hand here than just a few rumors. Plus, she hoped with Sota's social standing, maybe he would be able to protect his younger brother from the actions of the other students. Lucky to Kimiko but unlucky to Yuto, Baki came in and told all the student to take their seats.

The kunoichi turned and went up the small stairs to her usual seat but before she sat down, she looked at the red head in the corner. Gaara was staring out of the window as if he was just a passive onlooker of the class bored with everything else that was going on around him. She stalled knowing that if she moved up and sat next to him that no one would probably bother her and at the same time, find out more about this mysterious person that Sota had warned her to stay away from. However, with Baki now becoming agitated with the students before him, the kunoichi figured that it would be best to take her usual spot.

She sat down and placed her chin in the palm of her hand, propping herself up. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take a nap this class, but with all things considered, at least she could relax in a sleepy haze. Baki started to explain the challenges of the day from physical strength and conditioning runs and obstacles to the skill-based intellectual training consisting of throwing shurikens or kunai alongside the use of ninjutsu and the practicality of it. It was essentially what they had to do as genin to receive a rank in the class, but this had some actual merit to being towards the top. The person that came in first would be pardoned from the first matches and move directly into the final rounds. As much as this appealed to the kunoichi, she decided to stay with her original plan. She had no doubt that she could compete for the top spot, but she wasn't one to show off if she could help it. As Kimiko's thoughts started to drift off towards eating barbecue the other jonin judges started to filter in and introduce themselves.

There was one standard jonin that seemed to still be recovering from injuries sustained based on the failed invasion and then the other two were dressed as if they were either a part of council or as if they were representing lords. To Kimiko, they were one in the same, but when they were introduced, it seemed that the other students in the room perked up, as if the stakes were higher now since these two people were there. The first was an elderly woman who was a part of the formidable Hoki family, and she was standing in, representing the head of the medical ninjutsu family of the village, Hakuto Hoki. However, even though Kimiko was more interested in this family, especially since she knew that Yuto would want to learn from them, everyone went on edge with the announcement of a high ranking official from the Shirogane Clan. The hair on the back of Kimiko's neck stood up when the two made eye contact.

He seemed as if he was a few years older than her eighteen years, she would put him to about twenty-three years of age. He had dark navy-blue eyeliner that circled his eyes and seemed to be slightly smeared as it matched his dark navy blue hair and dark blue eyes. He had on the standard jonin uniform of the Suna, however, he had gold, navy blue, and red chords that came down from his shoulder and attached to his waist to denote what clan he was a part of in the Suna. To Kimiko's knowledge, the types of chords denoted certain things, but she couldn't remember what. She had a feeling that the gold one, however, represented what his rank was within the clan, and it must have been high if he was here. Kimiko had heard of the three main houses of the Suna: the Kazekage clan, the Haki family, and the Shirogane clan, but it was something different to actually be in the same room with representation of all three families—whereas Baki and the other jonin represented the Suna and the Kazekage family.

However, something about the Shirogane character made her feel uneasy, plus, it seemed as if his eyes never left hers. She wanted to look away, but she wasn't going to turn away from a potential threat. If she remembered correctly, the Shirogane were famous for master puppeteers. With that thought, she started to miss her smaller farm town, there wasn't weird crap there. Just normal shinobi with normal jutsus versus normal shinobi with normal jutsus, or, at least that was how she liked to remember it. However, the longer that she let herself think about that topic the more she knew was untrue about it. She didn't like lying to herself, but in order to preserve her happy memories there, sometimes she let herself believe in the lie.

"Since the introductions are finished, I expect that all of you will try your best. As I am sure you know, whoever places first will be able to avoid the fighting rounds this time around. However, whoever places last… your title alongside your team will be stripped back to genins. Do I make myself clear?"

The intensity of the class went up ten-fold when the lowest scoring person will be demoted, which added more stress onto Kimiko. She knew that Yuto would be freaking out, but she knew that she couldn't think about that. Sota had that covered, so it was her job to push the other shinobi's attention onto her because she knew that the class was probably plotting against her to make sure that she had the worst score.

* * *

Lots of running and sweat later, Kimiko wiped the sweat off her forehead before going to the last event, which was shuriken throwing. She knew that she had been in the middle of the pack and she was right when she assumed that the class would try to do something to make sure she didn't receive high marks. Through all portions of the test, however, the Shirogane family representative didn't let her leave his sights. She thought that it was weird, but she made sure that it didn't affect her test results. The kunoichi also made sure to keep track of her friends, and the twins, even though Yuto wasn't the best, he wasn't dead last either. He was slightly below average, and that was all that Kimiko could ask for.

The person who wasn't seeming to try hard was Gaara. He didn't do many of the training exercises and even when he did, they were half hearted attempts. He seemed to be bored, as if this was a waste of time. Kimiko could get with that thought, but at the same time, here she was still participating. However, as everyone was coming back from the ten-mile run, that even with a bruised body, Kimiko was one of the first to make it back. She didn't know why, but she liked to run. She was good at it and it was an activity that made her feel free, as if she didn't have a care in the world. As she stopped at the next station, she noticed Gaara standing in the corner. She wondered how he was able to get out of all these activities. She decided it wouldn't hurt to stand over at the side and catch her breath before starting the next activity. Her time was already recorded and she figured it would be easier to start the last task when there were more people around so she could blend in.

"Kimiko Matsuda, correct?" A deep voice piped up behind her and Kimiko turned her head to see the jonin from the Shirogane clan standing next to her.

He moved silently without a trace and Kimiko didn't feel good about this encounter.

"Yes, Sir," Kimiko responded with quick words but politely.

She didn't need to get one of the highest clans of Suna angry at her if she wasn't polite. That was the last thing that she needed.

"Don't call me sir, it makes me feel old. Anyway, you impressed me today. You have many more skills than you are willing to show, don't you?" the royal blue head tipped towards hers as he deliberately invaded her space.

Kimiko didn't know how to respond to him. She showed an average amount of strength through everything but the long-distance running portion of the trail-based exam. However, every fiber of her being told her to back up, to get away. This man had danger written above him in big bold letters and Kimiko didn't want to have anything to do with this man. She knew that he was trying to intimidate her, but she wouldn't let him see how uncomfortable she was.

"Thank you…" Kimiko said hesitantly.

"No, no… It's my pleasure. I mean, I heard that the person who single-handedly took care of seventeen jonin level shinobi from the land of fire would be on display today… so I just couldn't help myself to see what they were talking about," The Shirogane representative licked his lips and a shiver ran down the kunoichi's spine.

Everything in her body told her to run away from this man. Every. Single. Thing. At first, she didn't know why, but then she landed on it. This man, she reminded her of her father when he was younger.

"I mean no disrespect sir, but I think you have some incorrect information there… mister…"

"Ah, here I am expecting answers and I never introduced myself to you… Eiji Shirogane… And Kimiko… I have a feeling that my sources are correct."

Kimiko gritted her teeth. She didn't like how her name was spat from his mouth as if she was contaminated with something. So, she tried to nod her head to depart from the conversation, but just as she was about to turn, the man grabbed her upper arm and spun her back around forcefully. She breathed on her face as he spoke the next words carefully, pulling her body towards him.

"Don't walk away from me, Kimiko… I never dismissed you, did I? I'm not done talking to you."

The kunoichi's fight or flight kicked in and her decision was noted when she tried to take a step back from the man. The action caused him to jerk her arm again and he snarled in her face with a sinister smile.

"You think you're high and mighty, huh? You just seem like a little girl to me… and here I thought that maybe you could be of some use… but I guess I was wrong… Your father told me you were a piece of shit anyway… but I figured I would check for myself given that he is an old drunk shinobi that had his title of jonin stripped and given back more times than you can count on two hands… I mean, with how you think that my sources are incorrect, is it also incorrect that he killed your mother because he came back so pissed, so drunk one night that he couldn't get information out of a prisoner that he strangled her to death and turned his fury on his toddler daughter?"

Kimiko stilled as flashes of that night came back to her. No. He couldn't know. No one knew what happened that night besides her, her father, and her grandfather. No one. She knew that few had theories of that night, but the only ones that knew what happened was the three of them. Yuto and Sota didn't even know all the details. What was this guy's problem… why did everyone in this village want something from her?

"I think it is best you let her go," A deep voice sounded from behind Eiji, but it seemed like he was ignoring it, or he didn't hear it.

However, there wasn't anything else said, but that was when the kunoichi felt grains of sand curl up her arm as if it was trying to form a protective barrier between her and the puppet master. Instantly, Eiji pulled away from Kimiko, realizing what was happening and he whipped around, a look of what Kimiko thought was fear in his eyes.

"Gaara, I didn't see you there. I didn't realize that you had business with Kimiko."

"…"

"Ah, well, I won't get in your way, we were just done here anyway," Eiji gritted his teeth and started to walk away as more students were starting to show up at the last event.

Kimiko let herself release a breath she didn't know she was holding and that was when she looked down at her hands and she realized that she was shaking. She quickly covered it by running her hands through her hair, ignoring the fact that sand was still on her and getting in her hair. The red head looked at her and shifted his weight as he started to walk over towards the shuriken throwing station. As he passed her, Kimiko held out her hand to stop him and placed her hand on his wrist. Gaara instantly stopped. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that he stopped breathing as well. He looked at her with such intensity that she looked away and dropped her hand from his wrist, thinking that he didn't like her touching him.

"I guess I really should say thank you… again… this is the second time you have helped me out in less than a day…"

Kimiko bit her bottom lip and looked back at Gaara. No response.

"Ah, well, just… thank you."

Gaara didn't say anything and instead just turned and started to walk to his original destination. She didn't know why, but this guy was always saving her. She would have to think of a way to say thank you. However, as she looked onwards towards the scoring rings, she saw an exchange of looks between Eiji and Gaara. That was when Kimiko realized that Eiji wasn't afraid of Gaara like she had presumed before… no, this was different. This was different than the fear that the other chunin's held for Gaara, this was a look of disgust instead. No, this jonin didn't think there was anything to fear from Gaara and instead looked at the redhead as if there was nothing else, he would rather do than to put him six feet under.

* * *

Kimiko wanted to go to bed and as she looked around, a lot of the other chunin's were sitting on the ground out of breath. It had been a long day for all of them. After her confrontation with Eiji and with the help of Gaara, it seemed that Eiji's attention was focused now on some of the other candidates of the class.

"Okay! Everyone gather around!" Baki yelled, trying to assemble the tired shinobi in front of him.

With a look of child-like happiness he announced the failure of the class, and the team that went with him. True to his word, Baki told them to start reporting to the genin class every day and to never show their faces around him again until they were chunins again. Then that was when he announced the rest of their rankings. Yuto came second to last and she could hear his relief loud and clear from somewhere to the side of him. Sota, surprisingly, did worse than she thought he was going to and was somewhere in the middle of the evaluations.

"Now for the top three…" Baki sighed and the rest of the class, like Kimiko thought that it was just going to be the three sand siblings.

"In third place, we have Temari… and in second… we have Kimiko… and in first, is Gaara."

Kimiko's eyes widened, how in the hell…

"We took into account those who were trying to not be rated in the top five… a word of the wise… it shows more skill to try to look bad than it does to look good… To make shurikens look as if they are grouped haphazardly and to execute other training measures with the intention to look as if they weren't done correctly… well, as the top three prove, it takes more than just skills and luck to be at the top."

Crap. This was not what Kimiko wanted. If she didn't have a target on her back, she definitely had one now.

"Now, without further ado, tomorrow will mark the first day of fighting—"

"Baki-sensei, we don't get a day of rest?" One of the students interrupted.

Baki looked pissed at being interrupted but continued onwards, answering the student's question, nevertheless.

"No. In a real situation you would be staying up in shifts with little to no rest, so we start bright and early tomorrow. However, as I was saying, Gaara will be exempted from this first round, so… Kimiko, I will allow you to pick your opponent first…"

Baki approached her with names that were written on paper in a jar. She stuck her hand in and pulled out a name. She prayed it wasn't Yuto or Sota. However, when she unfolded the paper, the name before her couldn't be more cliché.

"And?"

"Kageo," Kimiko said as if she was bored with her option.

She had a feeling it was going to be a quick fight, hell she would make sure that it would be. She was done with everyone treating her as if they could push her around. Hell, if she had a target painted on her back, may as well play the part. The kunoichi made eye contact with her classroom nemesis and she smirked at her, punching his open palm. Kimiko wanted nothing more than to roll her eyes at him, but she didn't when she heard Temari announce who she was going up against.

"Yuto Takahashi."

Shit. No. No. This wasn't good. Kimiko whipped around and saw that all the color drained from Yuto's and on Sota's she could clearly see the anger that was written there. There was no doubt who would win that fight… Temari was going to obliterate Yuto tomorrow and the only thing that Kimiko and Sota could do would be to stand there and watch. As Baki went down the line Sota called off someone else from the class that Kimiko didn't really know, but she didn't care, as long as he wasn't matched up against the other sand sibling. Kimiko swallowed hard and knew that if she could, she would try to prolong the coming of tomorrow as much as she could to try and protect her childhood friend from a known doomed fate.


	7. Absent Truths

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 7: ****Absent Truths**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the last chapter, it wasn't my best works. It was one of those lets "you just have to write it." Anyway, this one will be a bit more fun... Where one arc starts... another is set up.**

* * *

**Guest: Who knows! I may have a bit of that in there, but don't worry, our favorite Rock Lee will make an appearance in this fic :) We are just not at that point yet. **

**moonlight46: Thank you and I am happy that you like the bond so much! It is fun writing in the world of the Suna because... there isn't a bunch of characters to go off of and its like a whole other area of the Naruto universe to explore. Don't worry... we will eventually get to Gaara and his thoughts... all in good time my friend... all in good time. Yeah Eiji Shirogane does have some Danzo vibes, but I also think, at least in my mind, he has some more swagger than Danzo ever did. And heehee... trust me... You will love the fights that are about to come... and maybe Yuto will surprise you?**

**Flamecaster15: Thank you! I am too, like I feel the fight between Yuto and Temari, more people are looking forward to that instead of the one between Kimi and Kageo!**

* * *

Kimiko wanted nothing more than to go home, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to. She knew that it was another one of those nights where she would have to stay up and keep moving, making sure that she wasn't in one spot for too long. As she walked around the village, she wanted to comfort Yuto but he had vanished as soon as Baki had released them. She was sure that he was trying to formulate a plan or try to put his mind at ease by reading some medical books in order to get out of his head. She knew that each one of them had a way to get through stress. Yuto read, Sota smoked, and Kimiko ran until her body was physically exhausted. Looking back on it, she should have just gone for a long run last night instead of trying to train. If she just went running, then she probably wouldn't have the chance encounter that she had.

Sighing, Kimiko brushed the long tendrils from her face as the wind started to pick up. She didn't know if she would ever get used to the drastic temperature changes of the Suna. It was something that she didn't have to deal with. She was used to having all seasons in a day in the spring and the fall, but it was a gradual change over the course of the day, not swing temperatures like out in the desert. Putting one foot in front of the other, she started to jog, not really having an end destination in sight, but she had a feeling that she knew where she was going to end up. As she jogged, she replayed the conversation that she had with Sota.

"_Sota, let me go. You of all people should be going after your brother right now."_

"_As much as I want to be there for him and make fun of him for being so on edge about this whole thing, I honestly think that he needs to be alone for this one."_

"_Why? Why does he have to be alone? I don't get why you want your brother to be worried like this."_

"_Kimi, you trust me right?"_

"_Yes, without a doubt, but this isn't about me trusting you—"_

"_You have to have faith that I know my brother more than you or even himself right now. I think, deep down, Yuto knows that not only is this a way to get stronger and be on the same level as us, but he needs to do this for himself in order to grow."_

"_He is already at the same level as us, he is a part of our team and we would never leave him behind."_

"_You know that isn't entirely true. Sure my brother is smart and tactical, but besides medical ninjutsu, most of his skills are lacking."_

"_Everyone has things they need to work on Sota…"_

_Sota had smiled at her, "Everyone except for you… well maybe your mind… but… we always knew you were crazy."_

_Kimiko had rolled her eyes at that statement and punched Sota's arm and acted as if she had hurt him before they both started to laugh._

Maybe Sota was right about his brother. She knew that Yuto had felt like he was holding the team back for a while now, but it never interfered with the team. Where one lacked in skills the others picked up the slack, that was not only because of their teamwork but their friendship with each other. Kimiko knew that she should get some sleep, follow Yuto's usual advice, but as she picked up her speed, she started to feel as if she was free. That was why she liked to run. There was a feeling of freedom to it that she couldn't explain. It was like most of her worries just faded away. Before she knew it, the kunoichi was right about where she ended up. She stopped right in front of her favorite convenience store, the chill that her body once held now gone as she walked into the store.

Usually the store had a few shoppers no matter what time of day, but, for once, she was the only one there. She looked around and behind the counter found the shop owner's niece. She was reading a flashy magazine and chewing loudly on some gum. Kimiko never actually confirmed that the young woman behind the counter was the shop keeper's niece, but she knew that he never married nor had children, so she figured that the help he received some nights were because he was trying to help family out. The young woman didn't look thrilled to be there, but, as civilian jobs go, it wasn't the worst. She was able to sit and read her flashy magazines in the comfort of a cool or warm store depending on the time of the day.

Kimiko didn't stand too long at the front of the store and instead she shuffled her feet over to the instant ramen section of the store. They had other foods that where packaged, but there was just something about instant ramen that she absolutely loved. It was packed with sodium, but once warm water was added to it, nothing beat letting it sit and watching the noodles rise before her. It wasn't as good as homemade or fresh ramen, but, she felt like it was a guilty pleasure of hers. Most food was, in hindsight. If she couldn't sleep, she would spend her time eating. She was happy that she was a shinobi and that she ran a lot, if not, she would probably be overweight with the amount of food she ate. Yuto always commented when they went to eat out together that she was like a human garbage disposal. Kimiko smiled at the thought and without putting too much effort in her choice of instant ramen, she picked her favorite: barbeque flavor. If she couldn't have meat right now, at least she could imagine that she was eating it.

She walked to the front of the store, and with a roll of her eyes the shop keeper's niece checked her out. When Kimiko stood there, the niece looked at her with a sour expression.

"Can I help you?" The young woman sighed, disinterest.

"I uh… Can you heat some water up in the microwave behind you so I can eat this here?" Kimiko asked politely, pointing to the counter space for people to have a quick bite to eat.

"I mean yeah? I guess?" the niece backed away from the counter and put some water into a cup and threw it in the microwave, water droplets splashing on the counter.

Kimiko watched as the young woman returned to her magazine not bothering to clean up the mess that she had made. Kimiko knew it was just water, but a part of the whole transaction just bothered her. Kimiko took in the female civilian in front of her and she could see the resemblance to the elder shop keeper. This girl had sandy blonde hair that was pulled up into a ponytail on the side of her head. Kimiko wondered if that was easy to keep her hair there, or if it was what she felt like was fashionable. Kimiko landed on the latter, knowing that when she put up all of her hair, it was a pain already, and Kimiko had hair that touched her tailbone.

Finally, the microwave signaled that it was done, and without another exchange, Kimiko took the hot water and poured it in her instant ramen cup, carefully walking towards the counter space with chopsticks on top of the paper of the foam cup, trying to keep the heat in to essentially activate the dried noodles in the dish. As she waited for her food to be done, she hopped onto one of the tall chairs and looked out of the window. The counter was towards the other side of the shop, and originally, she never noticed it, but the window points towards the main street instead of the side street where the entrance of the shop is. She swung her legs looking out and watching people pass by the window, oblivious to her watching them.

With the warmth of the shop and finally sitting down, coming to a pause, Kimiko could feel her eyelids start to droop. She curled over, propped her arms n the table, and rested her chin on her arms, still looking out of the window. She knew that she couldn't sleep there, but she could at least rest her eyes while her ramen warmed up. Kimiko slowly closed her eyes and just as her head started to bob, she felt something warm and soft brush up against her upper arm, as if something was rubbing itself against her. She slowly opened her eyes and shifted her gaze to the side seeing the cat that had once bit her, showing her affection, almost as if the cat was asking her if she was okay by the way he looked at her and rubbed his body up against her arm.

She relaxed her shoulders at the presence of the cat touching her. She didn't realize that she was holding so much tension, but that was the power of an animal next to someone. Animals, especially cats, calmed Kimiko down. She never would say that she was a cat or dog person because each of them held their merits, but she figured that she just identified more with cats. She was hesitant with new people, but when she got to know them, she opened up. Granted, she didn't want to sound crazy if she just started talking to the cat next to her. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell this cat all of her problems, but she knew that it wouldn't fix anything.

She wanted to voice her discomfort with the amount of attention that she was receiving lately. She had tried to stay in the shadows, but no matter what she did, she was ostracized here. She tried to avoid the twins because she didn't want them involved in whatever this village had against her. The only thing was… she couldn't place why the village hated her so much. For what she knew, everything about her last mission protecting the Suna's farmland was classified, but, even then, she figured that someone would have talked. The only question was why was everything about her so hostile? She couldn't put her finger on it. She figured that there would be rumors when the three of them came to the Suna, but the ones that came out of her transferring here were cruel and unforgiving.

On the flip side of the same coin, Kimiko knew the world of shinobi and in hindsight, she wasn't too terribly surprised about the rumors. Shinobi could be filled with malice if they wanted to be, but still, even with that knowledge, that didn't add up. No one here knew who she was, and when she first got here, so many people seemed to know what had happened to her and the twins the fateful night she fought against the Konoha nins. Even though it wasn't the whole truth, there was still plenty out there in the open that people knew about. So, the only plausible thing that she could think of, to warrant such ill-feelings towards her when she first arrived, was that there was an information leak from someone in the intelligence department for the Suna.

Kimiko left her head up quickly and pushed back in her chair, almost knocking herself over, her sour thoughts filling her with a sense of dread and rage all at the same time. The cat that had once been friendly towards her hissed and shot away from her, hiding behind a plant by the window. She knew that she should be focused on her surroundings, but she thought she figured it out. It made her sick. There was a reason why the rumors were so rampant with her and there was a reason why one of the leaders of the Shirogane clan knew so much. When she had called him out on his sources, it was almost too easy to put two and two together now. She knew little about the intelligence department of the Suna, but that was not only where they retained information, but they gathered it, and the intelligence department was known for their horrific methods of data extractions, especially from enemies of the Suna. The rumors that surrounded the department put the bloody mist's training academy actions to shame.

The kunoichi ripped the paper lid off her instant ramen and tossed it to the side, making a mess on the counter in front of her. She brought the hot ramen to her lips and without using chopsticks, she started eating the instant ramen at a blistering pace, trying to let the burn for the hot ramen ease the disturbed feeling that she felt throughout her whole body. However, as she brought the half-eaten cup from her lips, there was still only one thought on her mind.

The only person that would care enough to make her life even harder in this village, the person that would try to turn the village's attention towards her even though no one should have cared about her, the person who wanted nothing more than to see her fail in life, was no other than her own father.

He was notorious for his methods of data extraction and she was sure that he had single-handedly gave the intelligence department its scandalous comments. She felt her chest constrict and she felt queasy now and she wasn't hungry enough to eat the rest of her ramen—which was unusual for her. She knew that he wasn't happy with her being back into the Suna after everything that had happened, but she had tried to avoid him as much as she could. Even though, sometimes, it backfired, especially if she didn't guess his schedule correctly. She had the proof of what happened when she messed up in his eyes. Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

She remembered a time when she, her mother, and her father were happy, but those memories where few and far between. Most of them were filled with drunk nights that her father came home, taking out his long day on his mother as if taking it out on enemy shinobi wasn't enough and Kimiko trying to hide from him, sometimes getting lucky that he would pass out before he could sense her hiding spot. Her mother wasn't better on that front either, she had essentially gone insane with Kimiko's father treating her poorly and wearing on her every day. Kimiko's mother would take out her frustrations on her daughter, yelling at her and treating her as if her daughter was the cause of all their problems. Her mother, more than one time, told her that she was a mistake, that she should have never came into this world, that her mother should have aborted her when she had the change—to her, Kimiko was the reason why her life was so broken and she was bound and determined to break her daughter as well.

Swiftly, Kimiko rose from the chair and threw away her half-eaten ramen and cleaned up after herself. She needed to get out of here. Staying too long in one place without the freedom of movement was not in her best interest as these thoughts filtered through her head. On one hand, she was happy that she had come to the realization of why everyone seemed to hate her, but it didn't hurt any less. In fact, she thought she wasn't affected by her father anymore, but evidently, as she could feel hot tears in her eyes, she still couldn't believe that a father or a mother could act in such a way towards their child. She never asked to be brought into this world, but it seemed as if she was a dark spot within it.

She could feel her chest rise and fall as she bolted out of the store without a second thought. She went to the end of the side street and loss the entirety of the meal that she just ate. She wiped her mouth and felt more bile rise up from her stomach, but she took a couple of deep breaths and tried to steady her breathing and heart rate. She started to be unkind to herself. She was so worried about Yuto that maybe she should have worried about herself more. Maybe if she was stronger, she wouldn't have but Yuto and Sota's lives at risk on their last mission. Maybe she didn't have to kill everyone there including the one person that she would have given anything for. She felt the hot tears run down her cheeks, the kunoichi stopped wiping them away once she realized that the tears fell faster than what she could wipe away. She was going down a dark hole and everything from the past couple of weeks was starting to hit her like a semi-truck.

However, just as she was about to gasp for air in the middle of her crying in the back of a dark ally, she heard a sharp voice scold her.

"Kimiko!" the gruff voice sounded, and Kimiko instantly stilled.

No, he couldn't be here.

She whipped around and found herself still alone in the alley. Her heart rate started to slow and so did her breathing when she turned, and Kimiko was finally able to calm down. She smiled through her tears as she wiped them off her face. That was her grandfather's voice. Out of everything, that was the one person who had always been there and when she came to the Suna, unfortunately, she had to leave him behind, but he was proud of her and always told her that she would amount to great things in her life. When she felt like this, she remembers her grandfather's wise words towards her.

"_Grandpa, why am I not good enough for anyone? Why does everyone just throw me away? I'm useless, I'm ugly, I shouldn't be here anymore!"_

"_Kimiko!" The older man voiced who had a balding head with sideburns that were pure white._

_Kimiko had stopped crying at the authority in his voice, too scared to do much of anything. Without hesitation, her grandfather pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear._

"_Do not speak bad of yourself, Kimiko. For the warrior inside of your heart hears your words and is lessened by them."_

With the moon high in the sky, Kimiko rolled back her shoulders and stood facing the path to the main street. She couldn't feel sorry for herself and she wasn't going to let the untrue words of others affect her. If her father wanted to play this game, then she would just play it even better. She had Sota, Yuto, and her grandfather on her side and if the others in the Suna wanted to believe the rumors that they heard instead of getting to know her, then so be it. She couldn't force people to do anything. The only thing that she could do is dictate how she would react to certain situations and with her grandfather's wise words playing over and over in her head as if they were on repeat like a popular musical track, she walked back onto the main road.

* * *

Under the disguise of night, Kimiko figured that she would explore more parts of the town that she had neglected. She liked the hidden village; however, no one could say that it wasn't beautiful at night. With the stars shining down on her, even with light streaming from the village, the stars above her were as clear as if they were being reflected off a pond. It almost seemed as if she could get swept up in the views of the night skies and take an adventure among the stars. When she was little she remembered looking up at the same sky and being amazed that the world could look so pretty. As she dropped her gaze down back to the path in front of her, she was walking towards the center of the village. Usually, she didn't come this far inwards since many rich families and the head Kazekage family lived in the center of the village. She liked keeping to the outskirts for a reason. In a way, the outskirts of the village were deemed to be more violent, more dangerous, but the kunoichi felt like she could predict what would happen if someone approached her looking for a fight.

Sure, gambling and the regular drunk fighting outside of run-down establishments and barred windows was normal, but she knew that the rich played a different set of games. Games that she didn't trust nor was she comfortable with. She knew what they were capable with and what they could get away with just because they had some power and money. She tried to keep away with these areas because she never wanted to get involved in something or blamed for something that wasn't her fault. It was obvious that she didn't fit in here, and as she walked through the epicenter of the affluent districts, she could feel people staring at her as she passed.

However, with her grandfather's words still at the back of her mind, she walked tall with her back straight, daring anyone to approach her. She was done with worrying about what they thought of her. If she couldn't beat them, she would join them at their own game. They had no clue about her strengths, and even though she made a promise and was determined never to break it, she knew that she still had a lot of power resonating inside of her, begging for her to let it out. As she rounded the corner of a busy intersection, Kimiko slowed her pace and eased back into the crowd, losing herself. She came towards the side of the wall and leaned up against it.

She propped her foot up on the wall as it bared her weight, crossing her arms, and fading into the background. Eventually, the passing people didn't pay any attention to her, as if she was a part of the wall itself. She wondered if all rich people felt entitled like the ones she was watching. There were mostly civilians out, but that didn't stop her from picking up a few protective headbands bearing the seal of the hidden village. As the rich flitted about, it almost seemed as if none of them had any worries in the world, besides showing up their friends with who could buy what and the amount of influence that they held on the village council. Even though she couldn't hear many of the conversations before her, people gave away plenty of information with just their body language alone. She liked to make up stories as to why the people in front of her were off put or drunkenly laughing at what their friends said.

As time went on, Kimiko couldn't help but notice something peculiar. Where the fancy restaurants and high-end shopping district met at this intersection, classy _adult_ establishments also collided here and with that, she couldn't help but notice a certain high ranking official from the Shirogane come out of what looked like to be a brothel. From this distance, Kimiko knew that unless he was specifically looking for her, she would be safe, but it did allow her to get a better look at the man. He had longer dark navy-blue hair than she had originally realized. Instead of wearing it down, he now had it up in a neat bun. Alongside this, with how the light from the busy intersection hit his eyes, they almost seemed to glitter as if they were gold.

If looking at him didn't make her body hair stand up, then she would have thought of him to be handsome. He had the right proportions to his face, but everything was told in his body language. Something was off. He didn't seem relaxed enough for someone who had just had _fun. _There was something clearly weighing on his mind and she could see that he held whatever was bothering him in his stiff shoulders, just like she tended to do. She watched as Eiji Shirogane turned back to the front of the brothel just as an older woman came out. Instantly, a smile crept on his face and he didn't hesitate to kiss the older woman on the cheek.

It was obvious that words had been exchanged between the two of them because when he pulled back, the older lady was laughing and had a wide smirk on her face. The older woman was mid-to-late forties and had long painted nails with too much makeup plastered on her face. It was almost like she was trying to hide the wrinkles of her face when in reality, it enhanced them since it was so caked on. The kunoichi watched the two interact with each other, almost as if it was a dangerous dance that went on between the two of them that was filled with flirtatious comments. Kimiko returned her attention back onto Eiji. Even with his hair up, he looked clean, too clean to indulge in the normal activities and services that the business had to offer. Just as Kimiko thought that Eiji was going to leave, two big, burley men came out of the establishment escorted by two girls that looked younger than Kimiko was of eighteen years.

The girls seemed as if they didn't want to be there with the men, and when one of the girls, with bright lavender hair walked, it was easy to tell that she was in pain. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. These burly men, with the Shirogane crest on their backs, had hurt these young girls for _pleasure_. As the girls tried to inch away, one look from the older woman silenced them and froze them in place. They feared her more than the men who were standing next to them. The men took their leave and just as Eiji turned, he looked out into the crowd, almost as if he was waiting for someone to make their move. Kimiko held her breath, but as Eiji scanned the crowd, it was obvious that he didn't notice that she was even there.

As the men departed the women of the establishment went back inside and Kimiko kicked off the wall, every intention of following Eiji and his underlings. However, as she stepped forward and thought about the rumors that Eiji was the closest thing to a puppet master that the Suna had right now, she didn't want to go making more trouble than what it was worth. Every ounce of her being told her that something wrong was going on, but she knew that it wouldn't be in her best interest in being there. Even though some instinctual thing told her that there was danger afoot, she knew that she would have to have undeniable proof if she was going to accuse one of the main Suna clans of doing something wrong—something illegal.

So, instead of doing what she wanted, instead of going after Eiji, she decided to follow Yuto's advice for one. Eiji and the others from the Shirogane clan went one way and she went the other.


	8. And So, It Begins

**Hidden Love**

**Chapter 8: ****And So, It Begins**

* * *

**A/N: Guys my master's is killing me right now, so sorry this chapter is short, but with my dual class finally ending and me going straight into my managerial econ class, I will try to update when I can. That and work is going to 7 days a week so i'm slowly dying... but enough of me complaining please let me know how you liked this last chapter :) **

* * *

**moonlight46: Thank you for the compliments! I am glad that you are so into the story and I am excited to have you read what I have planned :) **

* * *

That morning, it was crisp and cool. If one was to close their eyes, it almost felt as if one could imagine as if they were in a forest setting instead of the hot desert. It was just an illusion, given off by the strange sense of high humidity in the early morning air, coming off of a cold night before the morning sun rose to its peak and killed off any moisture in the air. The crisp air filled her lungs and the only thing that Kimiko could think about was the farm. She missed the damp soil underneath her feet and the way that the earth smelled after a day of tilling the earth. The moment only lasted for a few minutes as the sun rose rapidly in the morning sky and the imaginary dark, damp soil was replaced with the fiery sensation of coarse sand.

The kunoichi had arrived early to the training grounds, assuming that the first fights would be here instead of an actual tournament like setting. She figured that it was easier to fix a patch of sand rather than an actual landscape. She looked around, the only one there for some time, and noticed the flatness of everything. There was nowhere to hide for these upcoming fights. These fights weren't about evading and trying to outsmart your opponent by getting the drop on them. This was clearly to see who had the most natural, raw talent and strength it took to become a shinobi. If the grit was there, but there was nothing to show for it, Kimiko wondered if the Suna would decrease their ranks even further. It seemed that with the loss of the Kazekage and the loss of the war with Konoha, the Suna was doing everything in their power to look and appear strong, without having the training resources or capacity of personnel to do so.

Kimiko raised her hands above her head and clasped them together, feeling a long stretch elongate her back and release any tension she held in her shoulders. Involuntarily, she yawned and then proceeded to rub her eyes of the water that pulled in the corners of them. She knew who she was fighting today, but she didn't know in what order the fights would take place. Given that she was the first one to pick an opponent, she wouldn't be surprised if she went first or last. First, given that they would keep up with the same order as the previous day, or last, to try to invert what happened so her fight would be one of the last ones. Either way, it didn't really matter to her, even though she preferred to go first and get it done and out of the way. That way, she could focus more on the twin's matches.

She worried about them, they were the closest thing she had to family here, and with that in mind, she knew that it would be a struggle for her not to jump in and try to help them. She had a strong sense of loyalty to them and she wanted to protect them, but she knew, as Sota had pointed out, that maybe, this time, the three of them had to go on separate journeys to make sure that they all had the fulfillment out of their lives and careers. The brunette bent down and straightened her legs, touching past her toes so her palms were easily consumed by the sand. Her long hair found its way into the sand as well, but for whatever reason, the sand didn't seem to want to stick in her hair as it did with her skin.

As she continued to stretch, her mind wondered to thoughts of the red-headed boy who had _love_ tattooed onto the side of his forehead. From what Kimiko knew of him, he didn't participate much in the skills-based training or really anything yesterday and yet, the Suna still ranked him as the number one chuunin. It was impressive to say the least, but the kunoichi assumed that it was merely just based on the raw sense of power that came with being a jinchuriki, which in turn, brought her back to the sense that the Suna evaluated a shinobi's power based on strength alone instead of other key attributes that make different shinobi excel at unique tasks. She assumed that she wouldn't see Gaara for the rest of the day, and she wouldn't blame him if he didn't show up. If it was her that was excused, she wouldn't hesitate to go home and sleep all day in the comfort of knowing that her father would be out of the house.

Nevertheless, there was one person that she could count on being here and that was the puppet master from last night who seemed to be partaking in some unusual activities. It irked her for most of the night, but she knew better than to get involved with it. Again, it was one thing to accuse someone of her stature of treason or villainy, but to do it to an elite clan that was as close as nobility as one could be, that was unheard of. She herself wouldn't be able to make that sort of accusation, or she would be buried. However, the more she thought about the Shirogane the more she came to realize that there was something off about the way Eiji treated Gaara. When Eiji retreated from the situation between the three of them, it wasn't as if Eiji had given up, he had yielded, as if to fold and not show the rest of the cards he had in his hand. She knew that the Kazekage clan was trying to keep a hold of their spot within the system, one of the three sand siblings were most likely going to hold the title of the newest Kazekage, but Kimiko had a sneaking suspicion that there was more politics at play here than anything else. She knew that Eiji was up to something, and it wasn't anything good, and the harder she thought about it, the more she came back to the idea that Eiji himself, and the rest of the elite clans, were looking at a way to usurp the Kazekage family and become the newest instated members of power.

"You're here early, Matsuda."

A voice took Kimiko out of her thoughts and she turned to see Baki with his hand in the air with a simple greeting. She stood there, waiting for the jonin to approach her so she wouldn't have to raise her voice in order to speak to him. She noted that he was early, which wasn't unusual for the jonin. She knew better than to assume that he was early for the sake of trying to score some points with the head clans of the Suna, unlike the other jonin that was here to partake in judging as well. Kimiko had written off the other jonin as unimportant, given that he was just there to try and gain favors, which seemed to be back firing on him. Baki, from what Kimiko knew of him, was the opposite. He believed in hard work and that showed in his classes. He pushed his students beyond what they thought they were capable of and even though it was perceived that he didn't care and was too hard on them, Kimiko knew that Baki cared about his students a lot. She also knew that he deeply cared for the wellbeing of the sand siblings. If he didn't care, he wouldn't push them as hard as he had been.

"I could say the same thing about you, Baki-sensei," Kimiko gave her teacher a sweet smile, trying to ease any tension between the two if there was any.

Baki cleared his throat and the kunoichi dropped her smile, the two standing there in silence. The two rarely spoke to each other, but Kimiko never forgot how he had treated her when she first came to the Sand village. While everyone cowered in fear over her, with even the twins refusing to look her way, Baki was the one that cleaned the blood off her face and told her that it was going to be okay. She was holding in so much at the time and even though she was still working through many things from that night, Baki was the one that let her cry for her losses in the privacy of his own arms.

"So, you noticed that I was trying to be average?"

It was Baki's turn to smile, "Yes. It was noticeable if you were looking for it, especially with the shuriken throwing segment. I could tell that you were hitting your marks that you set your sights upon each time, but you were trying to make it so it looked like you were only performing as well as the chuunin next to you."

"I guess next time I will have to try harder to blend in then," Kimiko remarked.

"If no one has told you this… being invisible may not be your style. I have heard that you started favoring fire-style jutsus even though it doesn't align with your true chakra nature."

Kimiko remained silent at the remark. She knew that Baki had read the report from that night. He was one of the few that not only read the report, but he was one of the first Suna on the scene that night they came to retrieve her and the twins. Kimiko kicked at the ground.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but I have to say, fire-style is pretty flashy within-and-of-itself."

Baki looked over at the smaller framed shinobi next to him.

"Just watch your back, Matsuda. Not everyone here is as friendly as they may seem and if you continue to use up more chakra by trying to strengthen your fire style, someone may try to take advantage of that."

The corners of Kimiko's mouth turned up, "No one here has been too friendly anyway. Thanks for the concern, but I can watch my own back. If I can't I know that at least Sota and Yuto will."

Baki gave her a hard look, as if he was trying to convey without words how serious he was trying to be.

"There are things that you don't know… politics that are going on right now… in which, I'm warning you… just watch your back."

Kimiko was about to open her mouth to reply, but it didn't seem like the time or place to ask such questions. Other students were starting to show up and she knew that Baki wanted to resume his cold, hard exterior in front of his other students. He had to make sure he wasn't seen or assumed to have a bias for a favorite student. She knew that Baki was trying to warn her about something, and maybe Kimiko's string of thoughts was closer than what she had come up with, but she knew that there were parts of the puzzle that were still missing. She would have tried to sort through the information she had again in her head, but she knew that there wasn't much time for that anymore. She watched as the Hoki family representative came into view with Eiji by her side. Eiji said something and the elder produced a feminine giggle almost as if she was trying to flirt with the much younger man next to her. Eiji smiled at the Hoki representative, but when he scanned the crowd of students waiting their fate, Eiji locked eyes with Kimiko and gave her a warming, bright smile.

She turned away and licked her lips, her cheeks heating up. Every warning bell in her body shot up a red flag, yelling at her not to get close to the man, but something about him seemed so inviting. He may be up to no good in her eyes, but he was beautiful. She wouldn't have been surprised if an artist had used him as a muse at some point. She didn't notice that he had made his way up to her until he slung an arm over his shoulder, causing the other students to look away with the seemingly-act of intimacy that was being shared between the two of them. She could feel the hot air on her ear as he talked, and it didn't help the heat towards her face.

"Ahhh, I suppose you will do well today then, Kimiko."

"I hope you, Shirogane-san, but I can't discount my opponent."

This made Eiji smirk at her.

"Hmm… between you and me… a little boy's biggest mission was sitting on the outskirts, not engaging in battle, as he watched his village lose the start of a war trying to overthrow Konoha versus a little girl who not only went on plenty of A and S rated missions, alongside protecting a territory, and slaughtering seventeen members of Konoha's elite forces, most being jonin members… I know who I would place my money on."

"You flatter me too much, but again, your sources are wrong."

Eiji didn't take the bait, "You know what the best part of today is?" He asked, as if he was mocking the young woman.

"I'll bite, what is the best part about today?" Kimiko decided to go along with the game Eiji was playing, dropping the remarks about her past and moving with the new change in conversation.

Eiji squeezed her body towards his and Kimiko could feel her hip press up against the side of his body.

"Your little protector won't be here today."

Kimiko's eyes went wide with shock. She knew exactly who Eiji was referring to, and for whatever reason, his voice almost made it sound like he was challenging her on the matter. Kimiko didn't hesitate to break the contact with Eiji and push him away, creating some distance between the two of them. There was an overwhelming sensation that flooded her senses that made her want to get away from Eiji as fast as she could. There was evil under that brilliant white smile.

"He isn't my protector—"

"No?" I'm not convinced. You see, your sweet Gaara has never acted like that around anyone else. He has never stepped in for someone before, not even his own kin… So, what makes you so special that the _demon monster_ wants to protect you?"

Kimiko swallowed, her mouth turning dry and her palms became sweaty. It wasn't the fact that Gaara may or may not be looking out for her that unnerved her, it was the way that Eiji was looking at her when he said this. It was almost as if he had a vendetta planned not against her, but the person that he was challenging Kimiko about.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you, but maybe you can when you get incorrect information from your sources again. It seems to me like you have quite the ear for gossip."

Eiji's mood lightened up at her comment and as he started to walk away, "Maybe I will share what I find out, or maybe I will just let you figure it out by yourself. That seems like it would be more fun to watch," he held his arms up as if he was surrendering—for the time being.

Kimiko shot a glare at the back of the navy blue-haired shinobi's head and she retreated into the crowd of the other students just as Baki raised his voice and told them all to be quiet for them to listen to the morning announcements. As Kimiko looked around, even Sota and Yuto, looked like they were tense and had gone without a good night's sleep. Kimiko could relate to working off to little-to-no sleep. She was able to sleep for about two hours straight last night, but, she could feel her body start to slowly deteriorate and she knew that she would have to crash in the next few days.

"As you all know, the matches were essentially assigned randomly, however, the winners of these said matches today will be moving onto the next rounds. These rounds will demonstrate, in front of the entire council alongside myself, the Hoki and Shirogane clans, and a select handful of other lords and higher-ranking officials, your prowess as a shinobi. This will help us assess all your skills in order to make sure that we format the right missions for all of you to go on. So, the better you perform here today, and in the future with other fights, the better chances you have to go on missions that will not only help you with your career but also those that will test your abilities and allow you to grow as a shinobi. These matches are to be fought with any means necessary and will only end when a true victor has been decided: either by being incapacitated or by death. To those who survive, the next rounds will be even more grueling, because myself, alongside the help of the rest of this judging panel here today will be placing you against opponents of our choosing in order to see how you each react in different situations. From there, after the first fights of the next round, a bracket system will be in place until there is one victor standing after the end of this whole ordeal."

There were murmurs amongst the students of the class and many were already hesitant knowing that the person who was excused from participating today was most likely going to win the whole thing. Kimiko tried to but the whispers of her classmates to the side and ignore them, knowing that talk wasn't going to help her now. The only thing she could do was to put one foot in front of the other, and the first task that was ahead of her was putting a certain bully in his place.

"As you all may be curious by now, I have decided to just go down the list starting with the highest ranking chunnin here today down to the lowest. So, Kimiko… Kageo… you two are up first," Baki spoke as if he had an air of annoyance around him.

Both Kimiko and Kageo broke away from the rest of the students. Kageo cracked his knuckled and tilted his head to both sides, cracking his neck as well. The kunoichi just looked at Sota and Yuto, the former giving her a thumbs up and the latter giving her a nod of approval. Baki came to the middle of where the two opponents were staring each other down. Kageo had a shit-eating smirk on his face, and Kimiko stood there nonchalantly.

"Now, I want a good, clean fight here. If I have to tell anyone's parents that someone died today during this little training exercise, I am not going to be happy, do you understand me?"

Both chuunin nodded their heads and Baki walked a few paces away, getting himself ready to let them start. So, in the moments between Baki slamming his hand down to indicate for the two of them to start fighting, Kageo decided he needed to express himself.

"I'm going to make you regret that you ever came to the Suna, Kimi-weemee."

Kimiko refrained from rolling her eyes, "I would be careful with the words that you say to me, Kageo. Karma can be a bitch."

"Aww, why is that? Is Kimi-weemee scared?"

"Fighting you? Hell no. I just want you to know that I plan to end this fight before you even realize what is going on."

"High and mighty words coming from a traitor like you."

Kimiko didn't respond to Kageo's last comment and instead, she focused on Baki's hand movement out of the corner of her eye. He gave them the signal to start, and true to her word, the fight was over before Kageo ever realized what was going on.


End file.
